•  /\U  T  UUII 


'•I  IJJH1   OH  I 


•      ^ 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 


JOSEPH,  NEZ  PERCE  CHIEF 
(1897) 


The 

Indian   Dispossessed 

By 

Seth   K.   Humphrey 


With  16  Full-page  Illustrations 
from  Photographs 


"No  man  has  a  place  or  a  fair  chance 
to  exist  under  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  who  has  not  a  part  in  it*' 


Revised  Edition 


New  York 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movement 

of  the  United  States  and  Canada 


Copyright, 
BY  SETH  K.  HUMPHREY.1 

All  nghti  reurved 
Published  September,  1905 


8.  J.  PAKKHILL  A  Co.,  BOBTOS,  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

IF  the  introductory  chapter  of  this  book  be  deemed 
to  bear  too  heavily  upon  long-cherished  American 
ideals,  will  the  reader  generously  consider  it  as  no  more 
than  a  friendly  challenge  to  discover,  in  the  Indian 
tales  which  follow,  that  those  ideals  have  borne,  un- 
sullied, the  practical  test  ? 

Not  once  is  there  question  of  the  high  impulses  or 
fair  intent  of  the  American  people ;  but  a  good  inten- 
tion loses  virtue  with  age,  and  sentiments  which  persist 
without  developing  into  action  can  weigh  little  against 
the  plain  record  of  facts. 

This  is  no  attempt  to  maintain  that  "  all  men  are 
created  equal."  In  the  light  of  all  that  is  best  in  hu- 
man history,  that  declaration  attains  to  nothing  more 
real  than  a  praiseworthy  sentiment  mistaken  for  a  fact. 
Whether  the  nation  which  gave  it  birth  has  developed 
it  into  a  sentiment  to  be  honored,  or  into  a  grotesque 
absurdity,  during  its  long  contact  with  a  race  created 
not  the  white  man's  equal,  the  reader  is  left  to  de- 
termine. 

S.  K.  H. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION I 

THE  INDIAN  RESERVATION 17 

THE  UMATILLAS 24 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  BITTER  ROOT    .......  44 

THE  NEZ  PERCES 73 

THE  REMOVAL  OF  THE  PONCAS 143 

THE  MISSION  INDIANS 202 

DIVIDING  THE  SPOILS 246 

UNCLE  SAM,  TRUSTEE 262 

CONCLUSION      ........••••••  288 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

JOSEPH,  NEZ  PERCE  CHIEF,  1897 Frontispiece 

KEOKUK,  SAC  AND  Fox  CHIEF,  1X31 Page   18 

SEMEO,  —  UMATILLA,  1871 ««  17 

WOLF,  —  UMATILLA,  1875 "  40 

NEZ  PERCE  CAMP  ON  THE  YELLOWSTONE,  1871       .     .  "  78 

TA-MA-SON,=TIMOTHY,  NEZ  PERCE,  1871      ....««  86 
IN-ME-TUJA-LATK,  =  ECHOING   THUNDER.      CHIEF 

JOSEPH,  1878 "  97 

WHITE   EAGLE,    HEAD   CHIEF   OF   THE    PONCAS, 

1877 "  »45 

RED  CLOUD,  OGALALLA  Sioux  CHIEF,  1876  .     .     .     .  "  15* 

CHIEF  STANDING  BEAR,  1877 ««  177 

WHITE  SWAN,  PONCA  CHIEF,  1877 ««  198 

OURAY,  UTE  CHIEF,  COLORADO,  1874 «*  147 

SPOTTED  TAIL  AND  SQUAW,  1877 ««  163 

Two  STRIKES,  BRUL£  Sioux,  1878 "  477 

LITTLE  CROW,  LEADER  OF  Sioux  IN  THE  MINNE- 
SOTA MASSACRE,  1863 ««  288 

RED  CLOUD,  THE  OLD-TIME  WARRIOR,  TOTALLY 

BLIND,  1903 "  295 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 


INTRODUCTION 

THOSE  of  us  whose  Latin  is  of  the  vintage 
of  two  or  three  decades  ago  may  remember 
Jacobs'  Roman  History,  with  its  traditional 
fables  of  Italy's  earliest  days,  done  in  easy  Latin  for, 
beginners;  and  some  may  recall  the  first  plunge  into 
Latin  translation:  "Antiquissimis  temporibus  Satur- 
nus  in  Italiam  venisse  dicitur,"  —  "  In  most  ancient 
times  Saturn  is  said  to  have  come  into  Italy."  Then 
the  next  sentence  disclosed,  after  due  persuasion,  that 
he  founded  a  city,  and  called  it  Saturnia;  and  finally, 
at  the  close  of  this  first  paragraph,  the  first  word 
of  the  Italian  people :  "  Hie  Italos  primus  agricul- 
turam  docuit,"  from  which,  with  much  thumbing 
of  the  "  vocabulary  "  in  the  back  part  of  the  book, 
we  learned  that  —  "  He  first  taught  the  Italians  agri- 
culture." There,  in  a  nutshell,  —  or,  rather,  in  a 
sentence,  —  is  the  beginning  of  Italian  civilization ; 
and  the  beginning  was  in  agriculture  —  the  funda- 
mental art,  an  art  so  old  among  the  Italians  that  its 
origin  was  ascribed  to  Deity. 
i  I 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Since  then,  those  who  hold  the  magic  wand  of 
civilization  have  come,  many  times  the  world  over, 
into  the  land  of  the  unenlightened,  with  all  shades  of 
motives,  and  with  all  sorts  of  teachings ;  but  the  point 
of  it  all  is  that  this  mythological  benefactor  began 
the  civilization  of  his  chosen  people,  not  by  teaching 
them  the  alphabet,  nor  a  new  creed,  nor  to  make  bead- 
work  for  the  curio  market,  but  —  "  He  first  taught 
the  Italians  agriculture" 

From  Italy's  beginning  to  the  first  page  of  the 
American  aborigine's  story  may  seem  a  far  cry. 
It  is.  Their  significant  relation  —  if  a  hibernicism  be 
permissible  —  is  that  of  dissimilarity.  Had  some 
kindly  Saturn  preceded  the  Pilgrims  in  the  land,  and 
first  taught  the  Indians  agriculture,  the  meeting  of 
the  races  might  have  resulted  very  differently ;  but  it 
was  decreed  that  the  Indian  should  receive  his  first 
impression  of  the  better  life  from  mere  mortals. 

While  the  good  Puritans  appear  to  have  yearned 
for  the  salvation  of  the  Indian's  soul,  they  labored 
more  effectively  for  the  possession  of  the  Indian's 
land;  and  with  a  quick  perception  of  their  prime 
motive  the  Indian  soon  brought  himself  to  see,  above 
all  else  in  the  new  civilization,  a  despoiler  of  his  one 
possession  —  the  great  hunting-ground  of  his  fathers. 
So,  under  the  persuasive  influence  of  these  conditions, 
the  Indian  moved  continually  westward,  with  his  heart 
full  of  hate  for  the  white  man,  and  the  first  great 
lesson  in  civilization  still  unlearned. 

2 


Introduction 

Musing,  some  twenty  years  ago,  upon  these  prickly 
points  in  his  country's  history,  a  brilliantly  satirical 
member  of  the  United  States  Senate  disguised  the 
unpalatable  truths  in  a  pellet  of  humor,  thus,  — 
"  When  the  pilgrim  fathers  landed  upon  the  New 
England  shore,  they  first  fell  upon  their  knees,  and 
then  upon  the  aborigines,"  —  and,  forthwith,  the 
American  people  assimilated  an  unwelcome  historical 
mess  without  so  much  as  making  a  wry  face.  Indeed, 
this  witticism  is  now  so  respectably  ancient  that  it  is 
here  repeated  with  much  trepidation,  and  only  because 
there  are  so  few  oases  of  humor  in  the  grim  desert 
of  the  Indian's  story  that  the  reader  may  do  well  to 
fortify  himself  here  with  a  smile,  against  the  heat 
of  other  emotions  during  his  journey  toward  the  end 
of  the  book. 

With  the  coming  of  the  troublous  times  that  led 
to  the  Revolution  the  good  fathers  found  themselves 
in  the  role  of  the  oppressed,  —  and  then,  how  changed 
their  views  of  man's  rights!  The  youthful  nation 
announced  to  the  world  the  discovery  of  these  mighty 
Truths  in  human  affairs,  —  "  That  all  men  are  created 
equal;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
certain  inalienable  rights,  among  them  being  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness." 

In  the  calm  light  of  this  day  it  passes  the  under- 
standing that  a  people  burdened  with  the  problem  of 
two  inferior  races  —  one,  slaves,  and  the  other,  not 
slaves  only  because  they  possessed  not  one  attribute  of 

3 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  slave  —  should  have  thus  expressed  themselves 
with  any  literal  intent.  It  is  a  kindness  to  absolve  them 
from  any  intent  within  the  real  meaning  of  the  pro- 
nunciamento,  for  we  see  now  that  it  voices  a  helpful 
aspiration,  not  a  fact;  but  what  more  was  it  then 
than  an  impassioned  protest  against  inequality  with 
those  above,  without  one  thought  of  those  below,  — 
a  self-centering  cry,  "  None  shall  be  set  above  us !  " 
and  not  the  voice  of  love,  saying,  "  Arise,  my  brother, 
and  stand  with  me  "  ? 

It  is  with  some  hesitation  that  the  pet  fiction  of 
the  American  people  is  thus  vigorously  assailed,  but 
while  there  remains  any  of  the  substance  with  which 
we  have  invested  its  vague  indefiniteness  the  true 
status  of  the  Indian  cannot  be  clearly  defined,  and 
until  the  limits  of  his  rights  are  known  we  cannot 
know  to  what  extent  those  limits  have  been  over- 
stepped. If  we  believe  that,  in  any  literal  sense,  the 
Indian  was  created  the  equal  of  "  all  men,"  and  en- 
dowed by  his  Creator  with  the  inalienable  right  to 
the  pursuit  of  happiness  in  his  own  way,  we  have 
sinned  —  and  that  enormously,  because  against  our 
own  conception  of  right  —  in  even  disturbing  him  in 
the  possession  of  his  vast  hunting-ground;  a  view 
untenable,  because  we  know  that  in  this  we  have 
done  only  that  which  dominant  peoples  have  done 
since  the  beginning,  and  will  continue  to  do  until 
civilization  shirks  its  duty  to  develop  the  resources  of 
the  whole  earth  for  the  highest  good  of  mankind. 

4 


Introduction 

Then  put  aside  the  fallacy,  and  say,  that  no  Indian 
is  the  equal  of  the  white  man  until  he  has  turned  to 
the  white  man's  way;  his  possessory  right  to  the 
great  hunting-ground  of  his  fathers  conferred  upon 
him  no  ownership,  in  the  white  man's  sense  of  owner- 
ship, in  land  fitted  for  the  higher  uses  of  civilization ; 
no  precious  metals  in  the  hills  were  his,  because  for 
generations  he  had  chased  the  buffalo  and  the  deer 
over  the  surface. 

The  untamed  Indian  had  but  one  tangible  right,  — 
the  right  to  be  shown  the  new  way  by  those  who 
had  made  his  own  way  impossible.  The  very  dearth 
of  his  rights  as  a  savage  measured  the  white  man's 
tremendous  obligation  to  bring  him,  by  all  reasonable 
means,  into  the  rights  that  come  with  civilization. 
That  the  Indian  did  not  turn  readily  to  the  better 
way,  history  makes  us  sure;  the  change  demanded 
was  too  abrupt,  too  opposed  to  his  inbred  notions 
of  labor  and  responsibility;  but  civilization  was  not 
to  be  stayed  by  the  Indian's  refusal  to  accept  its  teach- 
ings, and  in  just  proportion  to  his  unbending  the 
Indian  went  down  before  it.  This  was  the  main 
tragedy  in  the  Indian's  story,  and  his  well-meaning 
friends  have  often,  in  a  spirit  of  undiscriminating 
sentimentalism,  made  of  it  the  main  indictment  against 
the  white  man.  Of  this  indictment  we  may  at  once 
acquit  ourselves,  in  so  far  as  we  have  unselfishly  and 
intelligently  labored  to  make  the  new  way  attractive; 
but  to  no  greater  extent,  for  history  again  shows 

5 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

clearly  that  among  the  most  implacable  and  bitter  of 
all  Indians  were  many  who  had  once  turned  to  the 
white  man,  only  to  be  met  with  treachery  and  deceit. 

The  inevitable  results  of  this  long,  unequal  contest 
were  made  more  tragic  because  of  the  unyielding  In- 
dian's conviction  that  his  right  to  "  life,  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness  "  was  being  ruthlessly  trampled 
upon.  There  was  no  difference,  to  his  untutored  mind, 
between  defending  his  native  land  against  the  incur- 
sions of  other  wild  tribes,  as  he  had  often  defended 
it,  and  his  final  contest  with  the  white  man.  There 
was  the  same  bitterness  in  defeat,  the  falling  of  his 
braves  was  as  tragic,  and  the  sufferings  of  his  women 
and  children  as  real,  as  though  he  were  yielding  to 
another  barbarian,  because  —  Heaven  help  him  — 
there  was  much  in  the  white  man's  philosophy  which 
he  could  not  understand.  In  the  calm  of  the  long 
afterward,  when  we  sing  our  song  of  liberty: 

"  I  love  thy  rocks  and  rills, 
Thy  woods  and  templed  hills," 

it  will  do  the  Indian  no  more  than  a  sentimental  jus- 
tice to  remember  it  as  the  song  of  his  own  glad  days. 
The  tragic  story  of  the  untamed,  fighting  Indian 
is  closed,  and  this  book  will  have  no  more  of  him,  — 
thus  eliminating  many  a  sad,  but  possibly  instruc- 
tive, chapter.  Neither  is  the  tale  to  be  burdened 
with  a  recital  of  individual  atrocities  perpetrated 
by  irresponsible  white  settlers,  and  by  renegades 

6 


Introduction 

who  so  largely  constituted  the  ragged,  cutting  edge 
of  our  civilization,  —  a  profitless  harrowing  of  the 
sensibilities,  unless  one  delights  in  instances  of  un- 
controlled depravity.  It  is  with  the  Indian  coming 
into  his  rights  as  a  man  through  the  fundamental 
art  of  agriculture,  —  how  his  rights  in  the  real  owner- 
ship of  land  have  been  conserved,  and  how  violated, 
under  regularly  constituted  authority;  and  especially 
with  the  acts  of  that  prime  arbiter  of  the  Indian's 
destiny,  the  United  States  Congress,  that  these  narra- 
tives have  to  do. 

With  the  final  placing  of  the  Indians  upon  reserva- 
tions thirty,  forty,  and  fifty  years  ago  the  Govern- 
ment found  itself,  for  the  first  time  in  its  history,  in 
full  control  of  the  Indian  situation  —  and,  conse- 
quently, for  the  first  time  with  full  responsibility  for 
the  Indian's  care  and  civilization.  The  Indian's  game 
—  his  livelihood  —  had  disappeared  before  the  ad- 
vancing white  man.  He  was  subdued,  generally 
friendly,  and  in  a  mood  as  receptive  as  the  Indian 
mind  is  capable  of.  To  turn  him  from  the  responsi- 
bilities of  the  tribal  life  to  the  first  responsibilities  of 
the  civilized  life  was  clearly  to  turn  him  from  the 
pursuit  of  game  for  a  living  to  the  pursuit  of  agri- 
culture for  a  living.  That  was  the  way  involving  the 
least  abrupt  transition ;  from  the  buffalo  and  the  deer 
to  stock-raising,  from  the  gathering  of  roots  and 
berries  to  the  gathering  of  vegetables ;  and  with  this, 
education  and  Christian  teaching.  None  but  the  very 

7 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

sanguine  could  hope  that  most,  or  even  a  large  ma- 
jority, of  the  Indians  would  take  readily  to  the  new 
way,  but  this  was  the  natural  way,  the  shortest  step, 
and  the  first  step,  and  the  Government  set  out  in 
good  faith  to  first  teach  the  Indians  agriculture. 

In  view  of  subsequent  history  it  is  instructive  to 
read  in  the  agency  reports  of  forty  and  fifty  years 
ago  of  the  earnestness  and  industry  that  character- 
ized the  Indian's  beginning  in  agriculture  and  stock- 
raising.  It  does  seem  as  though  the  very  pathos  of 
his  simple  efforts  would  have  impressed  upon  the 
Government  with  new  force  the  double  right  of  the 
agricultural  Indian  to  the  best  of  the  land,  and  pro- 
tection upon  it  during  his  long  endeavor  to  come 
into  the  better  way,  —  the  right  of  a  man  striving  to 
do  a  man's  work,  and  his  prior  traditional  right  to 
all  the  land. 

But  the  great,  voting  public's  interest  in  the  Indian 
has  been  sentimental,  not  material,  —  often  at  a  high 
pitch  over  some  newly  revealed  injustice,  but  always 
effervescent,  and  rarely  persisting  until  election  day; 
and  Congress  —  created  by  votes,  perpetuated  by 
votes,  recognizing  sentiment  only  as  expressed  in 
votes  —  has  always  in  Indian  affairs  more  or  less 
narrowly  represented  the  interests  of  the  voters  on 
the  frontier,  uninfluenced  by  public  sentiment. 

The  typical  frontiersman  was  a  survival  of  stren- 
uous conditions;  a  man  of  forceful  action,  with  an 
insatiable  desire  for  more  land,  and  the  best  land, 

8 


Introduction 

and  land  always  just  over  the  border  laid  down  in 
the  latest  covenant  with  the  Indian,  even  though  cov- 
ered with  the  crops  of  Indians  turned  to  the  white 
man's  way.  His  development  of  the  new  country 
was  significant  of  strength  and  virility;  it  extended 
the  bounds  of  civilization,  and,  in  his  rough  way,  he 
knew  of  civilization's  debt  to  him  and  his  kind. 

The  neighbor  of  this  man  was  an  untutored,  sub- 
dued child  of  nature,  taking  his  first  lesson  in  the 
pioneer's  own  well-mastered  art.  He  was  not  a 
voter,  —  not  even  a  man,  in  the  eyes  of  the  law. 
His  efforts  were  those  of  a  beginner,  —  uncertain, 
lacking  efficiency,  and  of  little  economic  effect. 

How  else  could  such  a  man  as  the  pioneer  regard 
this  primitive  school  in  the  wilderness,  and  these 
little  beginnings,  than  as  a  sentimental  effort  of  small 
consequence  in  the  general  scheme?  The  Indian's 
right  and  the  white  man's  obligation  were  nothing  to 
him.  He  had  seen  the  less  forceful  of  his  own  kind 
go  down  to  failure  before  the  obstacles  which  he  him- 
self had  overcome,  and  he  measured  the  worth  of  both 
Indian  and  white  man  alike  by  the  test  of  strength  and 
efficiency.  The  abandoned  efforts  of  his  departed 
white  neighbor  had  inured  to  his  benefit,  and  he  looked 
with  anticipation  upon  the  Indian's  small  improve- 
ments as  the  next  in  order  to  come.  To  develop  new 
country  was  his  business,  and  in  his  greater  ability 
to  develop  its  resources  he  thought  he  saw  his  better 
right  to  the  Indian's  land. 

9 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

This  was  the  man  who  was  to  determine  the  Indian's 
right  to  a  foothold  in  his  own  country,  through  con- 
gressmen and  other  officials  who  must  heed  the  de- 
mands of  their  few  real  electors  or  be  turned  out  of 
office.  In  the  game  of  politics  this  much  of  the  nation's 
great  trust  has  been  consigned  to  his  gentle  hand. 

Out  of  this  condition  came  our  great  national  re- 
proach. Always  of  his  best  the  Indian  gave  up  to  his 
white  neighbor.  New  treaties  curtailing  his  reserva- 
tion were  entered  into,  often  unwillingly  on  his  part, 
or  old  treaties  were  violated,  and  each  time  the  Indian 
moved  to  portions  of  his  country  more  remote  and  less 
desirable.  The  lack  of  permanency  made  any  con- 
tinued effort  in  agriculture  impossible.  With  protec- 
tion in  the  pursuit  of  agriculture,  the  Indian  might 
have  learned  much ;  the  strenuous  game  of  the  "  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  "  in  which  he  found  himself  taught 
him  nothing  better  than  was  in  his  own  philosophy, 
and  too  often  he  turned  back  to  the  old  way. 

Whether  he  were  the  defenceless  beginner  of  the 
Northwest,  or  the  skilful  agriculturist  of  the  South- 
west desert  with  ancient  systems  of  irrigation,  the 
Indian  was  never  regarded  as  a  man.  The  forceful 
settler  dispossessed  the  irrigating  Indian  with  even 
less  than  usual  formality  because  his  highly  cultivated 
lands  were  the  more  valuable,  —  either  by  driving  him 
into  the  desert  and  pre-empting  his  land,  or  by  divert- 
ing his  water,  thus  making  his  land  a  desert.  Typical 
of  these  Indians  were  the  four  thousand  Pimas  of 

10 


Introduction 

Arizona.  They  had  practised  agriculture  by  irrigation 
along  the  Gila  River  for  more  than  three  centuries.  In 
the  language  of  the  early  records,  "  They  are  farmers 
and  live  wholly  by  tilling  the  soil,  and  in  the  earlier 
days  of  the  American  history  of  the  Territory  they 
were  the  chief  support  of  both  the  civil  and  military 
elements  of  this  section  of  the  country." 

In  1886  the  whites  began  to  divert  the  waters  of  the 
Gila  River.  A  suit  in  the  federal  court  was  talked  of 
to  maintain  the  clear  rights  of  the  Indians,  but  never 
pressed.  No  district  attorney  who  would  prosecute 
such  a  case  against  voting  white  men  could  expect  to 
live  politically.  Within  seven  years  the  Pimas  were 
reduced  from  independence  to  the  humiliation  of  call- 
ing for  rations,  while  the  white  settlers  used  the 
Indians'  water  undisturbed. 

"  Enough  has  been  written  about  the  need  of  water 
for  the  starving  Indians  to  fill  a  volume,"  wrote  the 
discouraged  agent,  after  ten  years.  "  It  has  been 
urgently  presented  to  your  honorable  office  time  and 
again,  and  yet  the  need  of  water  is  just  as  great  and 
the  supply  no  greater."  So  the  years  went  on.  In 
1900  came  the  cry  from  the  desert,  "  This  water,  their 
one  resource,  their  very  life,  has  been  taken  from 
them,  and  they  are,  perforce,  lapsing  into  indolence, 
misery,  and  vice."  Thirty  thousand  dollars  was  ap- 
propriated for  more  rations. 

Finally,  after  eighteen  years,  the  suit  to  recover  the 
Indians'  rights  received  its  final  quietus.  The  district 

ll 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

attorney  reported  in  1904:  "There  is  no  doubt  but 
that  the  case  could  be  taken  up  and  prosecuted  to  a 
favorable  ending,  but  .  .  .  it  would  be  impossible  for 
the  court  to  enforce  its  decree,  and  the  expense  of 
prosecuting  such  suit  would  cost  between  twenty  and 
thirty  thousand  dollars." 

This  Government  long  ago  lost  the  right  to  say  that 
it  could  not  enforce  a  federal  law  against  less  than  a 
thousand  of  its  agricultural  citizens.  Its  officials 
would  not  disturb  the  political  balance  of  Arizona. 

Agriculturists  one  hundred  years  before  the  pil- 
grims landed;  agriculturists  until  white  men  stole 
their  water;  now,  looking  pitifully  for  rain  in  a  rain- 
less country.  "  No  rain  has  fallen  for  more  than  a 
year,"  says  the  report  of  1904,  "  consequently  they 
were  cut  off  from  any  agricultural  achievements,  but 
found  employment  in  various  ways.  The  men  worked 
on  the  railroad,  on  farms,  and  in  the  adjacent  towns. 
The  building  of  the  Tonto  Reservoir  afforded  work 
for  many.  The  women  do  laundry  work,  cook,  raise 
chickens,  make  baskets,  and  in  many  ways  keep  the 
wolf  from  the  door." 

The  crime  of  it  cannot  be  charged  to  the  frontiers- 
man ;  it  is  upon  the  Government  that  surrendered  this 
portion  of  its  trust  to  those  who  were  unfit  to  admin- 
ister it.  It  was  a  trust  involving  the  welfare  of  a  race 
not  contemplated  in  our  free  institutions  —  an  unrep- 
resented people  under  a  representative  government. 
The  Indian  was  left  without  the  protection  which 

12 


Introduction 

comes  from  a  sustained  public  interest,  for  a  sustained 
public  interest  is  impossible  except  as  it  appeals  in 
some  measure  to  public  selfishness. 

But  there  is  another  side  to  this  picture.  During 
all  these  years  of  trouble,  the  Indian  was  faithfully 
attended  by  a  great  Unselfishness,  always  striving  to 
re-establish  him,  to  educate  and  enlighten  him.  The 
Government  met  with  no  opposition  in  administering 
this  portion  of  its  trust,  and  the  workers  were  granted 
its  most  generous  and  intelligent  support;  for  the 
high  ideals  of  the  people  have  always  been  the  Gov- 
ernment's inspiration,  even  though  it  be  often  led  to 
action  by  a  selfish  few. 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  book  to  recount  the 
great  good  that  has  come  to  the  Indian  through  this 
branch  of  the  Indian  service,  save  to  make  full 
acknowledgment  here  of  its  greatness.  It  has  done 
much  more  than  attend  the  Indian's  education.  Many 
a  tribe,  and  many  individual  Indians,  have  had  saved 
to  them  tracts  of  good  land,  upon  which  they  have 
worked  their  way  toward  civilization.  Indeed,  had  it 
not  been  for  the  constant  presence  of  these  among  the 
Indians  who  labored  for  their  good,  little  good  land 
would  have  been  left  to  any  Indians. 

These  are  the  two  great  influences  which  have 
shaped  the  Indian's  destiny;  one,  steadily  hewing 
away  the  foundation  —  his  land ;  the  other,  faithfully 
moulding  the  superstructure  —  his  education ;  both 
generously  supported  by  a  vote-seeking  Congress. 

13 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Where  the  first  has  failed,  the  Indian  is  coming 
into  full  citizenship  through  agriculture,  education, 
and  Christian  teaching.  Where  both  have  succeeded 
in  their  opposing  efforts,  we  find  the  Indian  figura- 
tively, and  often  literally,  on  the  rocks;  educated, 
saved,  and  forlorn,  —  amiable,  but  aimless,  in  his 
arrested  development.  He  has  missed  the  fundamen- 
tal lesson  of  mankind. 

But,  too  often,  without  the  foundation  of  good  land 
the  superstructure  has  fallen,  —  and  upon  us  is  re- 
sponsibility for  the  most  miserable  being  in  the  land ; 
landless,  idle,  drunken,  dirty,  and  altogether  unattrac- 
tive; for  forty  years  discouraged  in  agriculture  and 
encouraged  in  mendicancy  under  the  ration  system,  — 
a  degenerate  by-product  of  our  nation-building  process. 

Much  that  was  vicious  in  the  administration  of 
Indian  affairs  has  been  eliminated  during  recent  years. 
The  system  of  Indian  education  was  never  better, 
never  more  liberally  supported  by  the  Government, 
and  in  allotting  good  land  in  severalty  to  Indians 
whose  reservations  still  contain  good  land,  we  are 
fulfilling  our  obligation  to  those  individual  Indians. 
But  from  the  portion  of  the  nation's  trust  which  fell 
into  the  political  pot  we  have  the  barren  reservations, 
perpetuated  for  many  thousands  of  Indians  of  the 
second  and  third  generation  whom  we  must,  perforce, 
continue  to  support,  or  "  civilize  "  as  railroad  section 
hands,  and  ditch  diggers,  and  sellers  of  bead-work, 
while  the  white  man  cultivates  their  good  land.  We 

14 


Introduction 

now  show  a  belated  eagerness  to  square  ourselves  with 
these  Indians  by  allotting  to  them  their  choice  of  land 
from  the  poor  remnants  which  have  been  left  to  them 
after  the  many  choosings  of  the  white  man,  —  a 
pathetic  spectacle,  this  granting  Indians  the  choice  of 
land  on  which  no  well-equipped  white  man  could  make 
a  living.  This  portion  of  our  great  obligation  is 
beyond  redemption. 

When  we  hear  of  dark  injustice  among  the  natives 
of  Africa,  or  in  Russia's  Siberian  wastes,  we  turn  in 
horror  from  the  oppressed  to  vent  indignation  upon 
the  oppressor.  But  when  the  tale  of  our  own  Poor 
Lo  is  told,  we  lift  our  eyes  to  Heaven  —  not  being  so 
well  able  to  see  ourselves  as  to  see  others  —  and  mur- 
mur, reverently,  "  'T  is  the  Survival  of  the  Fittest!  " 
Those  who  think  lightly  are  wont  to  exclaim,  impa- 
tiently, that  the  Indian's  story  is  a  closed  book.  It  is 
—  nearly  so ;  but  the  book  of  history  is  never  closed, 
except  by  those  who  think  lightly. 

Ugly  facts  never  stood  out  more  plainly.  In  this 
Indian  business  Congress  has  persistently  betrayed 
the  nation's  ideals  at  the  behest  of  a  small  fraction  of 
the  people;  the  Rosebud  land  scandal  of  1904  (told 
in  the  chapter,  "Uncle  Sam,  Trustee")  shows  that 
it  can  be  led  as  easily  now  as  ever  before.  If  in  our 
self-satisfied  conceit  we  think  that  other  businesses 
have  not  led,  and  are  not  now  leading,  Congress  to 
other  betrayals  of  public  trust,  we,  too,  may  as  well 
say  that  history  can  tell  us  nothing,  and  close  the  book. 

15 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Congress  delivers  to  the  highest  political  bidder.  If 
the  public  bids  highest,  it  is  because  of  some  great 
selfish  interest.  The  Indian's  welfare,  involving  the 
nation's  honor,  was  struck  off  to  the  vicious  few  be- 
cause, forsooth,  it  was  not  spelled  in  dollars  before  the 
public  eye. 

This  states  a  condition,  not  a  remedy;  the  remedy 
lies  —  in  a  slumber  that  knows  no  waking  —  with  the 
great  public,  —  a  public  content  that  its  ideals  are  so 
little  represented  in  national  legislation. 

And  now,  as  we  explore  the  darker  recesses  of  the 
Indian's  story,  we  need  not  forget  that  the  light  still 
shines  outside ;  and  while  we  watch  the  stain  of  what 
we  did  trickling  down  over  the  snowy  whiteness  of 
our  first  good  intentions,  some  may  find  solace  in 
the  placid,  self-centering  philosophy  of  these  nameless 
lines :  — 

"  Hapless  mosquito  !  settling  on  my  head, 
I  give  one  gentle  tap,  and  thou  art  dead. 
On  such  a  day,  to  slay  e'en  thee  I  'm  loath  — 
Would  that  the  world  were  wide  enough  for  both  '  " 


16 


THE    INDIAN    RESERVATION 

FIFTY  years  of  the  American  Indian's  story 
lies  in  the  Indian  Reservation.  Year  by 
year  the  story  comes  first-hand  in  the  re- 
ports of  each  reservation  agent  to  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs;  the  Honorable  Commissioner  pre- 
sents a  review  of  the  reports,  with  his  comments 
and  recommendations,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior; and  the  Honorable  Secretary  embodies  a 
brief  of  it  in  his  annual  report  to  the  President. 
Then  there  are  the  Indian  treaties  (so-called, 
Heaven  knows  why),  a  whole  bookful  of  them, 
with  Uncle  Sam  as  party  of  the  first  part,  and 
Uncle  Sam  as  absolute  custodian  of  the  party  of 
the  second  part;  and  Executive  Orders,  in  which 
the  signature  of  the  President  makes  and  unmakes 
Indian  country  without  the  troublesome  formality 
of  consulting  the  Indians.  And,  too,  when  the  In- 
dian thinks  his  right  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness  "  extends  beyond  the  confines  of 
his  reservation  into  his  old  hunting-grounds,  the 
story  shifts  to  the  War  Department,  and  Generals, 
Colonels,  and  Majors  take  a  hand  at  the  record. 

So  the  Indian  story  threads  its  way  through  the 
various   public   documents,    from   eighteen   hundred 

17 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

and  fifty-five  to  nineteen  hundred  and  five.  It  is  tl:-j 
object  of  this  book  to  pick  out  the  official  narratives 
of  a  few  Indian  tribes  and  present  the  Indian  in 
his  unromantic  reality,  —  not  the  Indian  in  paint 
and  feathers  chasing  the  buffalo,  nor  the  Indian  of 
Cooper,  but  a  forlorn  individual  wrested  from  old 
conditions  and  brought  face  to  face  with  new;  a 
being  bearing  the  impress  of  a  common  Maker  at 
the  absolute  mercy  of  those  who  profess  that  "  all 
men  are  created  equal."  The  public  documents  shall 
tell  most  of  the  story. 

The  first  forcible  exposition  of  the  reservation 
system,  somewhat  revised  and  in  working  order, 
appears  in  the  report  for  1872  of  the  Commissioner 
of  Indian  Affairs  to  the  Honorable  Secretary  of  the 
Interior.  He  says  in  part: 

"  In  the  first  announcement  made  of  the  reserva- 
tion system,  it  was  expressly  declared  that  the  In- 
dians should  be  made  as  comfortable  on,  and  as 
uncomfortable  off,  their  reservations  as  it  was  in  the 
power  of  the  Government  to  make  them;  that  such 
of  them  as  went  right  should  be  protected  and  fed, 
and  such  as  went  wrong  should  be  harassed  and 
scourged  without  intermission.  It  was  not  antici- 
pated that  the  first  proclamation  of  this  policy  to 
the  tribes  concerned  would  effect  the  entire  cessa- 
tion of  existing  evils;  but  it  was  believed  that  per- 
sistence in  the  course  marked  out  would  steadily 
reduce  the  number  of  the  refractory,  both  by  the 

18 


KEOKUK,  SAC  AND  Fox  CHIEF 
(1831) 


The  Indian  Reservation 

losses  sustained  in  actual  conflict  and  by  the  deser- 
tion of  individuals  as  they  should  become  weary  of 
a  profitless  and  hopeless  struggle,  until,  in  the  near 
result,  the  system  adopted  should  apply  without  ex- 
ception to  all  the  then  roving  and  hostile  tribes. 
Such  a  use  of  the  strong  arm  of  the  Government 
is  not  war,  but  discipline." 

Not  war  —  certainly  not ;  but  discipline.  It  is 
fairly  alive  with  discipline.  If  some  captious  reader 
persists  in  the  notion  that  every  war  of  conquest 
since  the  world  began  aimed  to  "  steadily  reduce  the 
number  of  the  refractory,"  both  by  killing  and  by 
strangling  hope  in  the  living,  he  may  content  him- 
self with  the  reflection  that,  sometimes,  discipline 
is  hell. 

So  the  well-disposed  Indian  was  to  revel  in 
plenty,  and  the  hostile,  "  scourged  without  inter- 
mission." How  did  it  work? 

The  Government  soon  discovered  three  things :  first, 
that  the  well  disposed  and  subjugated  tribes  could  be 
kept  in  a  state  of  quiet  at  an  extremely  small  expense, 
simply  because  they  would  not  or  could  not  fight; 
second,  that  by  providing  for  the  powerful  and  semi- 
hostile  tribes  so  bountifully  as  to  allay  their  resent- 
ment of  the  intrusion,  the  white  settlements  could  gain 
foothold  far  up  into  the  Indian  country  without  the 
aid  of  the  military;  and  third,  that  while  the  system 
of  rewards  to  the  righteous  was  correct  as  a  senti- 
mental proposition,  the  same  amount  of  money  ex- 

19 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

pended  on  the  Indians  in  inverse  ratio  to  their 
friendliness  produced  the  best  results  —  for  the  Gov- 
ernment. Hence  a  curiously  "  Inverted  Policy  "  in 
full  blast  at  the  time  of  the  Commissioner's  report. 
Here  is  his  apology  for  it: 

"  This  want  of  completeness  and  consistency  in  the 
treatment  of  the  Indian  tribes  by  the  Government  has 
been  made  the  occasion  of  much  ridicule  and  partisan 
abuse;  and  it  is  indeed  calculated  to  provoke  criti- 
cism and  to  afford  scope  for  satire;  but  it  is  none 
the  less  compatible  with  the  highest  expediency  of  the 
situation.  It  is,  of  course,  hopelessly  illogical  that  the 
expenditures  of  the  Government  should  be  propor- 
tioned not  to  the  good  but  to  the  ill  desert  of  the 
several  tribes ;  that  large  bodies  of  Indians  should  be 
supported  in  entire  indolence  by  the  bounty  of  the 
Government  simply  because  they  are  audacious  and  in- 
solent, while  well-disposed  Indians  are  only  assisted  to 
self-maintenance,  since  it  is  known  they  will  not  fight." 

Although  "  hopelessly  illogical,"  it  was  held  to  be 
reasonable: 

"  It  is  not  a  whit  more  unreasonable  that  the  Gov- 
ernment should  do  much  for  hostile  Indians  and  little 
for  friendly  Indians  than  it  is  that  a  private  citizen 
should,  to  save  his  life,  surrender  all  the  contents  of 
his  purse  to  a  highwayman ;  while  on  another  occasion, 
to  a  distressed  and  deserving  applicant  for  charity,  he 
would  measure  his  contribution  by  his  means  and 
disposition  at  the  time.  There  is  precisely  the  same 

20 


The  Indian  Reservation 

justification  for  the  course  of  the  Government  in  feed- 
ing saucy  and  mischievous  Indians  to  repletion,  while 
permitting  more  tractable  and  peaceful  tribes  to 
gather  a  bare  subsistence  by  hard  work,  or  what  to 
an  Indian  is  hard  work." 

The  friendly  Indian  seems  to  have  been  quick  to 
perceive  the  penalty  for  being  a  good  Indian,  but, 
unfortunately  for  his  peace  of  mind,  he  was  unable 
to  read  this  lucid  explanation  of  the  reasonableness 
of  his  affliction. 

That  the  Commissioner  was  strenuous  in  his  views 
regarding  the  early  reduction  of  the  hostile  Indian  to 
the  inexpensive  variety,  may  be  gathered  from  the 
following  extracts: 

"  It  belongs  not  to  a  sanguine,  but  to  a  sober  view 
of  the  situation,  that  three  years  will  see  the  alter- 
native of  war  eliminated  from  the  Indian  question, 
and  the  most  powerful  and  hostile  bands  of  to-day 
thrown  in  entire  helplessness  on  the  mercy  of  the 
Government.  .  .  . 

"  No  one  certainly  will  rejoice  more  heartily  than 
the  present  Commissioner  when  the  Indians  of  this 
country  cease  to  be  in  a  position  to  dictate,  in  any 
form  or  degree,  to  the  Government;  when,  in  fact, 
the  last  hostile  tribe  becomes  reduced  to  the  con- 
dition of  suppliants  for  charity.  This  is,  indeed, 
the  only  hope  of  salvation  for  the  aborigines  of  the 
continent.  If  they  stand  up  against  the  progress  of 
civilization  and  industry,  they  must  be  relentlessly 

21 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

crushed.  The  westward  course  of  population  is 
neither  to  be  denied  nor  delayed  for  the  sake  of  all 
the  Indians  that  ever  called  this  country  their  home. 
They  must  yield  or  perish;  and  there  is  something 
that  savors  of  providential  mercy  in  the  rapidity 
with  which  their  fate  advances  upon  them,  leaving 
them  scarcely  the  chance  to  resist  before  they  shall 
be  surrounded  and  disarmed.  .  .  . 

"  The  freedom  of  expansion  which  is  working 
these  results  is  to  us  of  incalculable  value.  To  the 
Indian  it  is  of  incalculable  cost.  Every  year's  ad- 
vance of  our  frontier  takes  in  a  territory  as  large 
as  some  of  the  kingdoms  of  Europe.  We  are  richer 
by  hundreds  of  millions;  the  Indian  is  poorer  by  a 
large  part  of  the  little  that  he  has.  This  growth  is 
bringing  imperial  greatness  to  the  nation;  to  the 
Indian  it  brings  wretchedness,  destitution,  beggary." 

So  "  expansion  "  and  "  imperial  greatness  "  are 
not  terms  born  of  the  Philippine  situation.  The 
business  dates  back  some  thirty  years. 

"  Discipline "  of  the  strenuous  kind  proceeded 
with  the  reduction  of  the  hostile  Indian  in  strict 
accordance  with  the  good  old  law  of  "  the  Survival 
of  the  Fittest,"  despite  the  handicap  of  the  Slogan. 
And  it  is  beyond  the  expectation  of  reason  that  a 
sentimental  expression  of  "  inalienable  rights,"  at 
best  the  cry  of  a  distressed  people  even  though  still 
persisting  as  a  living  truth,  should  have  secured  to 
the  Indian  as  his  game  preserve  vast  areas  of  coun- 

22 


The  Indian  Reservation 

try  fitted  for  infinitely  better  uses.  Such  a  thing 
cannot  happen  until  the  laws  made  "  in  the  begin- 
ning "  become  subject  to  human  revision. 

But  after  that,  the  host  of  "  suppliants " ;  and 
then,  what  next?  Then,  surely,  there  is  grand 
opportunity  for  the  play  of  the  humanitarian  pro- 
fessions of  a  great  nation;  with  the  last  Indian 
turning  to  his  "  Great  Father "  for  instruction  in 
the  better  way,  will  Justice  be  invited  to  preside 
over  the  destiny  of  the  unhappy  race?  Or  will 
Uncle  Sam  "  measure  his  contribution  by  his  means 
and  disposition  at  the  time,"  and  let  it  go  at  that? 


THE   UMATILLAS 

"  I  look  at  this  land,  this  earth ;  it  is  like  my  mother,  as  if  she  was 
giving  me  milk,  for  from  it  I  draw  the  food  on  which  I  live  and  grow." 
The  plea  of  an  Oregon  Indian  Chief. 

"  These  poor  people,  relying  on  the  promises  of  their '  Great  Father ' 
for  protection,  prefer  to  keep  their  little  homes  and  die  by  the  graves 
of  their  fathers,  and  nothing  remains  but  to  do  them  simple  justice  and 
protect  them  in  their  rights."  The  Response  of  One  Good  Man  in 
Authority. 

FIFTY  years  ago,   the   Indians  living   in   the 
valleys  and  mountains  where  Oregon,  Wash- 
ington, and  Idaho  meet,  first  heard  the  white 
man's  cry  of  Gold.    Onward  came  the  excited  miners, 
reckless  with  gun  and  regardless  of  rights,  and  away 
sped  the  Indians'  game.    The  Indians  gazed  in  wrath- 
ful consternation.     What  should  they  do? 

"Fight,"  said  the  chiefs.  "Fight  for  the  land 
of  our  fathers !  "  echoed  the  warriors.  And  fight 
they  did,  with  the  desperate  ferocity  of  men  who 
know  that  in  the  end  they  must  lose.  And  they 
lost. 

Then  in  1859  the  Government  gathered  up  the 
remnants  of  three  tribes,  —  the  Walla  Wallas,  the 
Cayuse,  and  the  Umatillas,  —  made  a  treaty  with 
them,  and  placed  them  all  together  on  a  reservation 
in  northeastern  Oregon. 

24 


The  Umatillas 

In  consideration  for  the  cession  of  their  vast 
hunting-grounds,  which  included  the  exceedingly 
valuable  Walla  Walla  valley,  this  Umatilla  reserva- 
tion was  secured  to  them,  with  certain  annuities  and 
other  benefits,  including  an  agency  for  their  pro- 
tection and  instruction  in  farming,  and  a  school  for 
the  education  of  their  children.  They  then  settled 
down  to  learn  to  "  travel  the  white  man's  road." 

Seven  years  later  their  agent  has  this  to  say  about 
them  : 

"  I  estimate  the  number  of  acres  now  under  fence 
at  something  over  two  thousand,  about  half  of  which 
is  unbroken  land  used  for  pasture,  hay,  corrals,  etc., 
the  remainder  being  in  a  good  state  of  cultivation. 
The  number  of  acres  planted  this  year  may  be  esti- 
mated as  follows :  Wheat,  480  acres ;  corn,  1 20  acres ; 
oats,  100  acres,  with  about  200  acres  in  peas,  beans, 
barley,  potatoes,  melons,  pumpkins,  onions,  turnips, 
carrots,  parsnips,  beets,  cabbage,  and  other  vege- 
tables. The  approximate  yield  of  this  land  will  be 
fifteen  thousand  bushels  of  all  kinds  of  produce, 
more  than  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  all  if  equally 
distributed. 

"  As  usual,  quite  a'  number  of  Indian  farmers  will 
each  have  from  five  hundred  to  one  thousand  dollars' 
worth  of  produce  to  sell,  which  they  can  dispose  of 
for  good  prices  at  the  neighboring  towns  and  sta- 
tions on  the  road.  .  .  . 

"  Most  of  the  Indians  residing  here  are  Roman 
25 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Catholics,  and  their  attachment  to  the  reverend 
father,  who  is  pleased  to  act  as  their  spiritual  as 
well  as  temporal  teacher,  is  very  great.  .  .  . 

"The  only  violations  of  law  and  order  are  com- 
mitted by  thoughtless  young  men  and  renegades  from 
distant  reservations." 

And  the  State  Superintendent  adds :  "  At  the  an- 
nual fair  of  the  Oregon  State  Agricultural  Society, 
held  in  1865,  two  first  premiums  and  one  second 
premium  were  awarded  to  these  Indians  for  agricul- 
tural products;  and  I  may  add  that  I  know,  from 
personal  observation,  that  products  of  similar  or 
even  superior  quality  are  by  no  means  uncommon 
among  them." 

A  truly  pastoral  community.  Their  number  is 
given  as  seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  and  thirty- 
one  scholars  are  enrolled  in  the  school.  Eighty-five 
hundred  of  their  horses  and  cattle  graze  upon  the 
reservation. 

But  the  Superintendent's  report  to  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Indian  Affairs  indicates  that  the  white 
men  are  beginning  to  repent  of  their  "  treaty  "  with 
these  Indians: 

"  The  superior  quality  of  the  land,  and  its  loca- 
tion on  a  great  thoroughfare,  convenient  to  the  gold- 
mines of  Powder  River,  Boise  Basin,  Oughee,  and 
other  points,  of  course  make  it  attractive  to  whites. 
There  are  constant  attempts  to  encroach  upon  it, 
constant  attempts,  under  various  pretexts,  to  locate 

26 


SEMEO,  —  UMATILLA 
(1871) 


The  Umatillas 

upon  it,  and  occasional  attempts  to  exasperate  the 
Indians  into  the  commission  of  some  overt  act  which 
will  justify,  or  at  least  palliate,  retaliation,  and  thus 
give  an  excuse  for  plunging  the  country  into  another 
Indian  war,  the  end  of  which,  they  well  know, 
would  be  the  expulsion  of  the  Indians  from  the 
coveted  tract." 

And  their  agent  confirms  the  presence  of  the  cloud 
that  hangs  over  these  children  of  the  forest: 

"  The  only  cause  of  discontent  existing  in  their 
minds  is  the  constant  fear  that  the  reservation  will 
be  taken  from  them  and  thrown  open  to  settlement 
by  the  whites." 

Again,  in  the  following  year :  "  The  Indians,  who 
are  superior  to  most  tribes  in  intellect  and  energy, 
are  very  much  attached  to  their  home,  and  very 
reluctant  to  abandon  it.  Some  thoughtless  whites 
have  talked  quite  freely  about  driving  the  Indians 
off  and  taking  possession  by  force.  During  a  visit 
last  spring  to  that  agency  and  vicinity  I  heard 
threats  of  that  sort  repeated  many  times.  Public 
meetings  of  citizens  have  been  held  to  devise  means 
to  have  the  tract  opened  for  settlement,  and  peti- 
tions for  the  same  object  to  Congress  and  to  the 
State  Legislature  have  been  circulated  and  numer- 
ously signed.  The  Indians  are  hence  very  uneasy 
and  very  much  alarmed.  There  are  here,  as  on 
probably  every  frontier,  a  few  reckless  villains  who 
desire  to  provoke  a  war." 

27 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

i 

Two  years  later  comes  this  plain,  blunt  communi- 
cation from  their  agent: 

"  I  believe  it  is  as  well  known  by  you,  as  it  is  by 
everybody  in  the  country,  that  this  place  is  wrongly 
situated  for  an  Indian  reservation.  It  is  closely  sur- 
rounded by  white  settlements,  and  contains  nearly 
all  the  good  land  in  Umatilla  County;  in  fact,  there 
is  a  larger  area  of  cultivatable  land  in  one  body  on 
the  reserve  than  anywhere  else  in  eastern  Oregon." 

"  Wrongly  situated  "  because  it  is  too  good  for 
these  farmer  Indians.  But  why  too  good?  After 
stating  that  the  whites  have  already  opened  several 
roads  through  the  reservation,  he  concludes: 

"  With  this  situation  of  affairs  it  is  not  surpris- 
ing that  the  whole  white  population  of  this  region 
are  clamorous  for  the  removal  of  the  Indians  from 
this  tract  of  land,  which  would  soon  be  developed 
into  a  rich  and  populous  country." 

Assuming  that  the  agricultural  Indian  is  at  least 
entitled  to  an  advantageous  foothold  in  the  land  of 
his  fathers,  it  is  interesting  to  note  the  effect  of 
these  various  messages  in  Washington. 

The  tales  of  attempts  to  encroach  upon  and  ex- 
asperate the  Indians,  of  the  threats  and  consequent 
terror  of  the  Indians  at  the  thought  of  being 
driven  from  their  homes,  seem  to  have  spent  them- 
selves upon  the  desert  air.  But  now,  "  the  whole 
white  population  of  this  region  are  clamorous  for 
the  removal  of  the  Indians,"  and  things  begin  to 

28 


The  Umatillas 

move.  Within  two  months  of  this  "  clamorous " 
report,  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  in  his 
report  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  re-states  the 
case  in  more  diplomatic  form: 

"  The  question  has  been  raised  whether  they  should 
not  be  removed  to  some  other  locality,  as  they  are 
constantly  annoyed  by  the  encroachments  of  the 
whites,  who  covet  the  possession  of  their  fertile  and 
valuable  lands,  lying,  as  they  do,  on  the  highway 
to  Boise  City  and  Salt  Lake.  The  Superintendent 
recommends  the  appointment  of  a  commission  to 
arrange  for  a  sale  of  their  lands,  and  their  settle- 
ment upon  some  other  reservation." 

This  is  plain  enough.  The  Indians  must  not  be 
annoyed.  They  may  have  to  give  up  their  homes 
to  the  covetous  whites  and  move  to  the  wilderness, 
but  they  must  not  be  annoyed. 

The  plan  to  remove  the  Indians  developed  rapidly. 
Congress  soon  resolved: 

"  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  is  hereby 
requested  to  negotiate  with  Indians  upon  the  Uma- 
tilla  reservation,  in  Oregon,  with  the  view  of  as- 
certaining on  what  terms  said  Indians  will  relinquish 
to  the  United  States  all  their  claims  or  rights  to 
said  reservation  and  remove  to  some  other  reser- 
vation in  said  State  or  Washington  Territory." 

A  commission  of  three  was  duly  appointed,  con- 
sisting of  the  State  Superintendent,  who  had  recom- 
mended their  removal,  the  resident  agent  of  the 

29 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Indians,  and  a  farmer,  a  former  Indian  trader, 
whose  land  adjoined  the  reservation.  The  summer 
of  1871  finds  the  special  commissioners  on  the  reser- 
vation, ready  for  business. 

And  the  Indians!  All  is  excitement  and  conster- 
nation. The  crisis  is  upon  them ;  the  men  from  the 
Great  Father  have  come  to  make  another  bargain ! 
Come  forth,  chiefs;  make  the  plea  of  your  lives  in 
defence  of  the  Indian  country!  Make  your  words 
strong,  but  with  a  good  heart,  for  the  Great  Father 
must  not  be  displeased  with  what  the  Indians  say. 
Speak  from  your  hearts  for  this  piece  of  ground, 
for  the  words  of  the  white  man  are  many,  and  the 
words  of  the  Indian  few! 

The  commissioners  came,  and  the  Indians  gath- 
ered at  the  agency  from  all  parts  of  the  reserva- 
tion. Times  without  number  before,  commissioners 
have  come,  and  as  many  times  Indians  have  gath- 
ered to  meet  them,  —  shrewd  and  forceful  men, 
with  purpose  determined,  to  bargain  with  those  who 
know  little  else  than  love  of  native  land.  Little 
wonder  that  the  Indian  moves  each  time  to  a  less 
coveted  country,  and  wonders  why  the  Great  Spirit 
of  his  fathers  has  forsaken  him. 

But  in  this  particular  instance  the  expectant  whites 
reckoned  without  one  man;  it  is  necessary  to  go 
back  a  little.  A  salient  feature  of  President  Grant's 
"  peace  policy  "  was  the  Board  of  Indian  Commis- 
sioners, authorized  by  special  act  of  Congress,  "  to 

30 


The  Umatillas 

consist  of  not  more  than  ten  persons,  selected  from 
among  men  eminent  for  their  intelligence  and  phil- 
anthropy, to  serve  without  pecuniary  compensation." 
This  Board  was  the  result  of  an  earnest  attempt  on 
the  part  of  President  Grant  to  rescue  the  Indian 
service  from  the  political  mountebanks  who  trafficked 
in  the  welfare  of  a  helpless  race  to  gain  the  political 
support  of  the  frontier  country.  To  check  the  whole- 
sale robbing  of  Indian  supplies,  the  Board  was  clothed 
with  authority  to  approve  and  supervise  all  Indian 
contracts ;  more  especially,  the  members  of  the  Board 
were  to  acquaint  themselves  with  the  needs  of  the 
Indians  by  personal  visits  to  the  reservations,  that 
they  might  in  some  measure  stand  between  the  wolf- 
ish rapacity  of  the  frontiersmen  and  the  defenceless 
reservation  Indians. 

Felix  R.  Brunot  and  Vincent  Colyer  were  ap- 
pointed chairman  and  secretary,  respectively,  of  the 
first  Board.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  they  were 
qualified  literally  for  their  distinguished  offices  — 
"  men  eminent  for  their  intelligence  and  philan- 
thropy." The  story  of  the  labors  of  .these  men, 
of  their  visits  to  the  agencies  and  Indian  camps 
throughout  the  great  West,  of  hardships  endured 
for  humanity's  sake,  securing  justice,  and  denying 
to  no  lowly  Indian  the  right  to  be  heard  in  his 
own  behalf,  covers  the  brightest  page  in  Indian 
history. 

Felix  R.   Brunot  appeared  with  his  secretary  at 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

this  Council  on  the  Umatilla  reservation.  Now, 
the  records  are  full  of  such  councils  with  reserva- 
tion Indians ;  some  of  them  drag  along  for  a  month, 
three  months,  or  all  summer,  before  the  desired 
"  consent  "  is  gained.  In  others,  the  Commissioners 
wear  themselves  out  before  the  Indians  give  up,  and 
depart,  always  to  come  again,  prepared  to  win. 

This  Council  lasted  six  days  —  just  long  enough 
to  carefully  present  the  question  of  removal  to  the 
Indians,  and  to  hear  the  replies  of  their  chiefs. 
Possibly  it  would  have  lasted  no  longer  had  Mr. 
Brunot  not  be  there.  Who  knows?  But  it  stands 
significant  among  all  the  land-winning  efforts  of  the 
white  man  as  the  shortest  unsuccessful  council  on 
record. 

The  surrounding  whites  were  out  in  force,  highly 
interested  spectators;  a  United  States  senator  for 
Oregon  made  one  speech  to  the  Indians,  in  which, 
amid  protestations  of  friendship,  he  pictured  the 
overwhelming  advance  of  the  white  man  in  a  way 
that  must  have  terrified  these  simple-minded  people. 

"...  The  whites  will,  perhaps,  in  the  course  of 
time,  want  to  build  railroads  through  your  reserva- 
tions, when  the  President  thinks  it  necessary.  The 
railroads  will  bring  more  white  people  into  the  coun- 
try. They  may  settle  about  the  reservation,  and  we 
may  not  be  able  to  prevent  their  committing  some 
wrong.  If  they  should  commit  wrong  on  the  In- 
dians, we  fear  you  would  commit  some  wrong 

32 


The  Umatillas 

against  them  in  retaliation.  Then  the  white  people 
and  the  Indians  might  have  a  great  war.  There 
are  great  numbers  of  white  people,  and  we  fear  they 
would  exterminate  the  Indian.  This  we  wish  to 
prevent.  Our  hearts  are  with  the  Indians,  and,  as 
law-makers,  we  wish  to  protect  them.  We  want 
them  to  understand  fully  the  danger  that  surrounds 
them.  The  President  will  do  all  he  can  to  pro- 
tect them,  but  there  are  some  bad  white  men  as  well 
as  bad  Indians.  We  want  you  to  think  of  it,  and 
decide  whether  it  would  be  better  to  get  away  from 
the  roads  and  the  railroads  that  may  some  time  be 
built  through  the  country.  .  .  ." 

The  Indians  took  little  part  in  the  speech-making 
of  the  first  two  days.  The  superintendent  presented 
the  question  of  removal  with  great  elaboration,  and 
Mr.  Brunot  gave  the  Indians  several  talks  of  an 
advisory  nature.  Everything  said  was  carefully  in- 
terpreted and  recorded.  One  Indian  —  Uma-pine,  a 
Cayuse  chief  —  interjected  remarks  at  frequent  in- 
tervals; he  seemed  suspicious  of  the  superintendent: 

"  My  heart  is  this  way ;  you  thought  over  it ;  you 
wished  for  this  reservation;  you  wished  for  Grand 
Ronde,  for  Walla  Walla  Valley  and  Umatilla;  you 
wished  for  it.  What  kind  of  a  heart  was  it  that 
wished  for  all  these  places?  Speak  plain  and  all  will 
hear  it." 

But  old  Uma-pine  followed  one  of  Mr.  Brunot's 
talks  with  this  rather  good-humored  acknowledgment : 
3  33 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  You  brought  the  mind  of  the  Great  Father  from 
Washington.  I  am  poor,  and  I  speak;  I  know 
nothing;  you  are  a  long  way  ahead  of  us.  You 
say  we  are  far  behind  you ;  that  is  all  right,  and 
we  do  not  mind  if  you  tell  us  so." 

On  the  third  day,  after  the  senator  had  presented 
the  question  of  removal  in  his  peculiarly  forceful 
way,  the  Indian  speeches  began.  Howlish-Wampo, 
the  head  chief  of  the  Cayuse,  led  the  defence : l 

"  I  heard  what  you  said  about  our  lands,  and  I 
understood  what  you  said.  We  like  this  country  and 
don't  want  to  dispose  of  our  reservation.  I  look  at 
this  land,  this  earth ;  it  is  like  my  mother,  as  if  she 
was  giving  me  milk,  for  from  it  I  draw  the  food 
on  which  I  live  and  grow.  I  see  this  little  piece 
of  land;  it  is  all  I  have  left;  I  know  it  is  good 
land.  This  reservation  was  marked  out  for  me. 
The  people  that  are  on  this  reservation  are  work- 
ing, are  doing  their  own  work  for  themselves.  I 
understand  that  you  are  asking  me  for  my  land.  I 
say  I  like  my  land,  and  I  don't  know  whether  you 
will  fulfil  your  promise  if  I  accept  your  promises 
for  my  land.  I  did  not  see,  with  my  own  eyes,  the 
money  that  was  promised  me  before.  All  the  stock 
I  have  had  to  feed  on  this  land  here.  That  is  why 
I  say  this  little  piece  of  land,  all  I  have  here,  I  want 

1  The  frequent  allusions  in  the  Indians'  speeches  to  Stevens  and 
Palmer,  the  Council  at  Walla  Walla,  and  unfulfilled  promises,  all  refer 
to  their  treaty. 

34 


The  Umatillas 

left  for  me.  The  large  country  I  gave  Governor 
Stevens,  and  you  have  not  paid  for  it.  The  white 
man  has  settled  on  it.  I  feel  that  I  have  here  a 
small  piece  of  land  left,  this  that  I  live  on  now. 
The  whites  have  all  the  land  outside,  and  the  other 
reservations  are  all  full  of  people  who  belong  on 
them.  The  Nez  Perce  are  living  on  their  reserva- 
tion, and  the  Indians  at  Simcoe  are  on  their  reser- 
vation. The  Indians  below  live  on  Warm  Spring 
reservation.  I  see  that  they  are  all  living  on  their 
own  reservations,  and  feel  just  as  I  do  living  on 
mine.  The  same  I  said  before  I  say  again,  I  can- 
not let  my  reservation  go.  That  is  what  I  have  to 
say  now  to  your  commissioners." 

Then  Wenap-Snoot  followed ;  and  Hom-li.  Tenale- 
Temane  made  a  characteristic  Indian  speech : 

"  I  have  heard  what  you  said  to  me.  There  is 
my  friend  Mr.  Brunot;  he  has  just  come  here;  I 
heard  him  with  my  ears  and  with  my  heart,  and 
what  I  heard  him  say  he  talked  straight.  When  he 
talked  of  God,  of  Him  who  made  the  ground  on 
which  we  stand,  my  heart  was  glad,  and  I  thought 
he  talked  straight;  this  is  why  I  thought  we  were 
going  to  have  a  straight  talk.  The  whites  talked 
to  me  some  time  ago,  and  I  came  over  here.  The 
land  was  marked  out  for  me  and  I  came  upon  it. 
We  have  been  here  eleven  years;  and  since  I  saw 
this  reservation,  I  have  been  on  it  ever  since.  I 
looked  and  saw  with  my  eyes,  there  is  so  much  land 

35 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

they  have  marked  out  for  me.  Now,  my  friend, 
when  I  came  here,  I  saw  the  white  man's  fences 
and  how  they  were  made,  and  I  went  to  work. 
Ever  since  that  I  have  worked  hard.  I  am  an  old 
man;  I  have  worked  till  the  sweat  rolled  off  me  to 
get  food  for  my  children;  that  is  the  reason  for 
what  I  have  to  say  now.  ...  I  do  not  wish  you, 
my  friend,  to  have  bad  feelings  at  what  I  have  said. 
The  President,  when  he  sees  what  is  written,  will 
see  what  his  children  have  said,  and  then  he  will 
think  in  his  heart  that  his  children  (the  Indians) 
love  their  country.  My  friend,  I  tell  you  again,  I 
love  my  country;  I  want  to  raise  my  children,  and 
also  raise  provisions  for  them  on  it.  That  is  why 
I  don't  want  any  white  man  to  come  and  live  in- 
side the  reservation.  That  is  what  Governor  Palmer 
and  Governor  Stevens  told  us,  that  no  white  man 
shall  go  and  live  inside  our  reservation.  Now,  my 
friend,  you  have  heard  what  I  have  said  about  my 
land,  and  that  is  why  I  want  to  stay  here;  I  cannot 
find  any  other  country  outside ;  my  friend,  the  white 
man,  has  occupied  the  whole  country.  I  see  the 
whites  travelling  through  the  country  on  all  sides, 
but  I  stay  here  on  these  lands  that  they  promised 
me  I  should  keep." 

The  Superintendent  responded  with  another  long 
talk  about  the  places  to  which  the  Indians  might 
go.  He  talked  so  long  that  Hom-li  ended  his  speech 
the  next  day  with  the  remark :  "  You  make  speeches 

36 


The  Umatillas 

too  long.  All  day  yesterday  you  talked.  We  can- 
not remember  what  you  say." 

Wenap-Snoot  replied  to  the  numerous  suggestions 
with  one  of  the  shortest  and  pithiest  Indian  speeches 
on  record : 

"  I  want  to  say  a  few  words  to  answer  what  you 
have  said.  I  saw  Lapwai  (Nez  Perce)  with  my 
own  eyes,  and  I  have  seen  the  mouths  of  the  Yakama 
with  my  own  eyes;  I  have  seen  the  Yakama  reser- 
vation (Simcoe)  with  my  own  eyes,  and  I  have 
seen  Walloa  Valley  with  my  own  eyes,  and  all  the 
Snake  country  away  South  I  have  seen  with  my  own 
eyes,  and  all  these  countries.  I  have  seen  all  them 
with  my  own  eyes,  and  none  of  these  countries  would 
suit  me." 

The  numerous  speeches  bring  out  many  interesting 
phases  of  Indian  thought.  The  dignified  earnestness 
of  all  their  utterances  indicates  the  seriousness  with 
which  the  Indians  regarded  this  coming  again  of 
the  white  man.  "  God  hears  me  now,"  said  Pierre, 
"  and  he  hears  you ;  we  have  spoken  plainly  to  one 
another,  and  not  with  bad  hearts.  I  have  no  wish 
to  go  and  see  that  country  you  talked  to  us  about. 
I  have  no  wish  for  any  other  country." 

And  Uma-pine :  "  I  believe  you  think  your  bodies 
are  dear  to  you  in  the  same  way  we  value  our  land. 
It  is  dear  to  us  —  dear  to  every  one  of  us.  We 
know  every  day  there  is  some  bargain  made." 

On  the  morning  of  the  sixth  day  some  one  brought 
37 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

De-co-tisse  bad  news  from  home,  and,  despite  his 
expressed  desire  to  avoid  publicity,  his  sorrowfully 
humorous  tale  became  a  part  of  the  record: 

"  I  don't  want  what  I  say  written  down ;  I  only 
want  to  tell  you  I  have  been  here  at  the  council  so 
many  days.  You  told  us  you  were  going  to  make 
this  matter  about  the  land  all  plain  to  us.  I  left 
fifty-seven  bundles  of  oats,  sixty  rows  of  corn  and 
pumpkins,  and  all  I  had,  I  left  them  on  the  ground 
to  attend  this  council.  They  are  all  destroyed.  Two 
cows  with  bells  on,  followed  by  a  band  of  mixed 
cattle,  with  mixed  brands  on  them,  came  in  and 
destroyed  them.  I  do  not  tell  you  this  from  a  bad 
heart ;  I  only  wanted  to  tell  you  what  has  happened." 

Poor  De-co-tisse!  Many  a  patriot  has  left  the 
plough  at  his  country's  call,  but  few  have  had  their 
sacrifices  heralded  with  such  particularity. 

Finally  the  Indians  were  told  to  counsel  among 
themselves  and  prepare  their  final  answer.  There 
could  not  have  been  much  doubt  about  this  final 
answer;  as  the  commissioners  withdrew,  a  Cayuse 
chief  called  after  them,  "  You  need  not  wait  long ; 
come  when  you  get  your  dinner !  " 

And  this  was  the  answer: 

"  HOWLISH-WAMPO.  You  are  asking  us  now  as 
if  you  were  speaking  to  our  hearts.  What  you 
have  spoken  this  people  have  heard.  .  .  .  This  res- 
ervation that  we  are  on,  we  all  hold  it  with  our 
bodies  and  with  our  souls;  and  right  out  here  are 

38 


The  Umatillas 

my  father  and  mother,  brothers  and  sisters  and  chil- 
dren all  buried ;  and  I  am  guarding  their  graves. 
That  is  my  heart,  my  friend.  This  reservation,  this 
small  piece  of  land,  we  look  upon  it  as  our  mother, 
as  if  she  were  raising  us.  You  come  here  to  ask 
me  for  my  land.  It  is  like  as  if  we  who  are  In- 
dians were  to  be  sent  away  and  get  lost.  I  look 
upon  all  sides.  On  the  outside  of  the  reservation 
I  see  your  houses.  They  are  good.  They  have 
windows  in  them.  You  are  bringing  up  your  chil- 
dren well ;  that  is  why  I  say  this.  You  must  listen 
to  me.  I  do  not  want  to  part  with  my  land.  I 
want  to  show  you  white  chiefs  that  that  is  what 
my  heart  is.  I  do  not  want  you  to  make  my  land 
smaller.  If  you  do,  what  would  my  stock  feed  upon  ? 
What  is  the  reason  you  white  men,  who  live  near 
the  reservation,  like  my  land  and  want  to  get  it? 
You  must  not  think  so.  You  are  not  going  to  get 
it.  I  am  telling  you  this  as  a  friend.  I  am  not 
telling  it  with  a  bad  heart.  I  want  to  know,  if  I 
was  to  go  away  from  here,  where  I  could  find  as 
good  a  piece  of  land  as  large  as  this  is  ?  My  friends, 
I  tell  you  now,  I  wish  you  would  not  talk  too  strong 
about  getting  my  land.  I  like  my  land ;  will  not  let 
it  go.  That  is  what  makes  me  talk  so.  I  am  show- 
ing you  my  heart  about  this  reservation.  You  have 
been  asking  me  for  my  heart.  This  is  my  heart." 

"  WAT-CHE-TE-MANE.  ...  I   want  you  to  listen 
to    what    I    have   to    say.      Here    is    the    way    my 

39 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

heart  is.  Here  in  this  land  my  father  and  mother 
and  children  have  died.  The  father  (priest)  is  the 
only  one  who  straightens  out  my  heart.  That  is 
why  my  heart  is  this  way.  I  am  getting  old  now, 
and  I  want  to  die  where  my  father  and  mother  and 
children  have  died.  That  is  why  I  do  not  wish  to 
leave  this  land  and  go  off  to  some  other  land.  I 
see  the  church  there.  I  am  glad  to  see  it,  and  think 
I  will  stay  beside  it  and  die  by  the  teaching  of  the 
Father.  I  see  how  I  have  sweat  and  worked  in  try- 
ing to  get  food.  I  see  the  flour-mill  the  Government 
has  promised.  I  have  gotten  it.  I  see  my  friends. 
I  like  all  that  I  have  (the  mills  and  lands).  That 
is  why  I  cannot  go  away  from  here.  The  President 
will  see  the  record,  and  see  what  we  poor  old  men 
have  said  in  this  council.  What  the  whites  have 
tried  to  show  me  I  have  tried  to  learn.  It  is  not 
much,  but  I  have  fenced  in  a  small  piece  of  land 
and  tried  to  raise  grain  on  it.  I  am  showing  you 
my  heart.  I  like  my  church,  my  mills,  my  farm, 
the  graves  of  my  parents  and  children,  and  I  do  not 
wish  to  leave  my  land.  That  is  all  my  heart,  and 
I  show  it  to  you." 

"  PIERRE.  I  am  going  to  make  a  short  speech. 
I  have  only  one  heart,  only  one  tongue.  Although 
you  say,  '  Go  to  another  country,'  my  heart  is  not 
that  way.  I  do  not  wish  for  any  money  for  my 
land.  I  am  here,  and  here  is  where  I  am  going  to 
be.  I  think  all  these  young  men's  hearts  are  like 

40 


WOLF,  —  UMATILLA 


The  Umatillas 

mine.  I  think  a  great  deal  and  have  but  little  to 
say.  What  I  have  said  will  go  on  paper  to  Wash- 
ington. Then  they  will  think  over  what  we  Indians 
have  said.  That  is  all  I  have  to  say.  I  will  not 
part  with  my  lands.  And  if  you  should  come  again 
I  will  say  the  same  again.  I  will  not  part  with  my 
lands." 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  Indian  decision;  and 
the  Indian  decision,  according  to  the  view  of  Mr. 
Brunot,  was  what  the  commissioners  came  for.  That 
ended  the  business. 

Mr.  Brunot  concluded  the  council  with  words 
of  encouragement  and  assurance  which  must  have 
touched  the  hearts  of  these  harassed  Indians.  Then 
he  turned  to  the  whites,  who  had  gathered  to  learn 
the  result  of  the  council,  and  sent  this  parting  shot: 

"  I  know  that  there  are  many  persons  within  reach 
of  this  reservation,  and  other  reservations,  who  sup- 
pose that  the  Indians  will  be  removed,  and  they  are 
waiting  for  places  on  them.  These  men  will  be  told 
by  their  candidates  for  Congress  that  they  will  get 
the  Indians  removed.  If  they  should  ever  succeed, 
and  I  do  not  believe  they  ever  will,  it  will  be  with 
the  certainty  that  the  Indians  will  get  the  full  value 
of  their  lands,  and  I  believe  the  man  who  waits  here 
to  get  a  pre-emption  claim  on  this  land  will  die  a 
poor  man,  still  waiting.  Now,  my  friends,  I  never 
expect  to  see  you  again  (unless  we  may  hope,  as 
I  hope,  to  meet  you  in  a  better  world  hereafter),  and 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

in  parting  I  will  venture  one  word  of  advice.  If 
I  lived  near  this  reservation  with  the  idea  of  ever 
living  on  it  I  would  abandon  it  at  once.  I  would 
hitch  up  my  team  Monday  and  I  would  go  to  where 
the  Pacific  railroad  will  probably  come,  or  I  would 
settle  on  some  other  good  place." 

Mr.  Brunot's  report  to  Washington  does  not  seem 
to  allow  the  Government  much  choice  of  action: 

"  In  view  of  the  maladministration  of  agents  and 
the  misapplication  of  funds,  the  failure  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  perform  the  promises  of  the  treaty,  and 
the  fact  that  the  Indians  have  been  constantly  agi- 
tated by  assertions  that  the  Government  intended 
their  removal,  and  that  their  removal  was  urged 
for  several  years  in  succession  in  the  reports  of  a 
former  agent  (thus  taking  away  from  them  all  in- 
centives to  improve  their  lands),  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  progress  these  Indians  have  made  in  ten 
years  has  been  wonderful.  Had  they,  as  the  result 
of  the  late  negotiations,  given  their  consent  to  re- 
moval, I  should  have  felt  bound  to  remonstrate 
earnestly  against  any  action  of  the  Government  to 
take  advantage  of  so  injudicious  a  decision  of  their 
incompetent  wards.  Happily,  the  unanimous  refusal 
of  the  Indians  to  sell  or  remove  from  the  remnant 
of  land  which  the  United  States  has  solemnly  guar- 
anteed to  them,  leaves  no  room  for  any  question  of 
that  kind.  The  arguments  used  in  favor  of  their 
removal  will  apply  with  equal  force  to  any  other 

42 


The  Umatillas 

place  to  which  they  might  be  sent;  and  even  if  they 
did  not,  these  poor  people,  relying  on  the  promises 
of  their  '  Great  Father '  for  protection,  prefer  to 
keep  their  little  homes  and  die  by  the  graves  of 
their  fathers,  and  nothing  remains  but  to  do  them 
simple  justice  and  protect  them  in  their  rights.  It 
is  earnestly  hoped  that  the  determination  to  do  so 
will  be  authoritatively  announced." 

But  the  noble  Elect  —  the  gentle  frontiersmen  who 
gazed  with  longing  eyes  upon  the  Indian  lands  — 
denounced  in  language  picturesque  the  whole  busi- 
ness as  an  outrageous  miscarriage. 

And  so  it  was;   a  miscarriage  of  injustice. 


43 


THE   STORY   OF   THE   BITTER    ROOT 

"If  it  [the  Bitter  Root  Valley]  shall  prove,  in  the  judgment  of  the 
President,  to  be  better  adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  Flathead  tribe, 
.  .  .  then  such  portions  of  it  as  may  be  necessary  shall  be  set  apart 
as  a  separate  reservation  for  said  tribe."  The  National  Pledge  to  the 
Flatheads. 

SITUATED  in  the  mountainous  country  at  the 
extreme  western  edge  of  Montana  is  the  fer- 
tile valley  of  the  Bitter  Root,  the  ancient  home 
of  the  Flathead  Indians.    The  earliest  noteworthy  in- 
cident in  their  history  dates  back   to  about   1835; 
the  story  is  rather  fancifully  told  by  a  Government 
agent,  in  a  report  made  many  years  later: 

"  Nearly  forty  years  since  some  Iroquois  from 
Canada,  trading  with  the  Flatheads,  told  them  of 
the  teachings  of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  who  for  many 
previous  years  had  been  laboring  among  them,  both 
for  their  spiritual  and  temporal  good.  The  Flat- 
heads,  listening  to  these  narratives  of  wonder  and 
love,  and  as  if  directed  by  inspiration  from  above, 
selected  some  of  their  best  men,  rude  and  savage 
warriors,  to  proceed  to  St.  Louis  and  ask  a  mission 
to  teach  them  '  the  ways  of  the  cross.'  Wending 
their  way  through  the  then  almost  trackless  wilds 
between  here  and  St.  Louis,  the  delegation  found 

44 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

itself  among  a  hostile  band  of  Sioux,  on  the  western 
borders  of  Missouri,  only  to  be  murdered,  but  one 
escaping  to  tell  the  fate  of  the  rest.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year,  another  and  a  larger  delegation  was 
despatched  on  this  Heaven-inspired  duty,  which  suc- 
ceeded in  reaching  the  object  of  their  destination, 
and  prevailing  on  Father  De  Smet  to  accompany 
them  to  their  wild  mountain  homes  —  the  Flatheads 
thus  becoming  the  first  spiritual  children  among  the 
red  men  of  that  venerated  and  distinguished  Catholic 
missionary.  Located  among  them,  the  Pend  d'Oreilles 
soon  sought  his  teachings,  and  bending  their  necks 
to  the  Christian  yoke,  both  tribes  in  aggregate  were 
duly  received  into  the  church,  and  to  this  day,  al- 
though subject  to  failings  and  shortcomings,  like 
the  rest  of  humanity,  they  (particularly  the  Flat- 
heads)  will  compare  favorably,  at  least  in  morality, 
with  a  like  number  of  people  anywhere." 

The  capacity  of  the  Indian  nature  to  absorb  and 
literally  follow  the  teachings  of  a  higher  faith  was 
never  better  illustrated  than  in  the  case  of  these 
tribes.  During  the  years  of  warfare  that  followed 
the  advent  of  the  whites  in  search  of  gold,  nearly 
all  the  tribes  in  the  mountains  of  the  great  North- 
west, alarmed  at  the  flight  of  their  game  —  their 
livelihood  —  before  the  reckless  white  explorers,  re- 
sisted with  the  ferocity  of  despair  this  invasion  of 
what  they  regarded  as  their  own  country.  Through- 
out these  bloody  years  the  Flatheads,  the  Pend 

45 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

d'Oreilles,  and  the  Nez  Perces,  three  neighboring 
tribes  under  Christian  teachers,  remained  steadfast 
friends  of  the  whites,  and  under  the  guidance  of 
their  self-sacrificing  instructors  these  Indians  sup- 
plemented the  pursuit  of  game  with  increasingly 
successful  attempts  at  agriculture  and  stock-raising. 
But  the  restless  white  explorers  gradually  crowded 
into  the  attractive  valley  of  the  Bitter  Root.  Then 
comes  the  story  of  another  bargain  for  the  Indian 
country.  In  1855  the  Flatheads,  numbering  some- 
thing less  than  five  hundred,  under  the  leadership 
of  their  old  Chief  Victor,  met  in  council  with  com- 
missioners appointed  to  treat  with  them  for  the 
cession  of  territory  and  settlement  on  a  reservation. 
Some  miles  to  the  northward  of  the  Bitter  Root, 
in  what  was  known  as  the  Jocko  Valley,  there 
had  been  set  apart  a  large  reservation  for  the 
Flatheads,  the  Pend  d'Oreilles,  and  the  Kootenais, 
and  thither  it  was  proposed  to  remove  them.  The 
Pend  d'Oreilles  and  Kootenais  were  successfully 
disposed  of,  but  Victor  and  his  people  strenuously 
opposed  this  measure.  They  were  ready  to  give 
up  the  large  territory  demanded  of  them,  except 
their  Bitter  Root  Valley;  this  they  would  not  cede 
and  remove  to  a  country  that  did  not  compare  in 
fertility  with  their  own.  Besides,  why  should  they? 
In  that  valley  they  had  set  up  their  church,  their 
houses,  their  farms ;  it  belonged  to  them ;  there  they 
had  established  themselves  to  learn  the  ways  of  the 

46 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

white  man,  and  there  they  proposed  to  remain.  All 
argument  and  persuasion  failed  to  shake  their  de- 
termination; Victor  and  his  men  flatly  refused  to 
sign  a  treaty  which  involved  the  cession  of  the  be- 
loved land  of  their  fathers. 

Now,  large  interests  were  dependent  upon  the  sign- 
ing of  this  treaty;  no  Brunot  was  in  attendance  to 
cut  off  the  persuasive  tactics  of  the  commissioners. 
The  Bitter  Root  Valley  was  only  a  portion  of  the 
coveted  territory  to  be  ceded.  The  treaty  must  be 
signed. 

The  white  man  is  resourceful,  while  the  Indian 
is  simple;  these  two  characteristics  appear  promi- 
nently in  every  treaty  council  with  the  Indians. 
After  all  other  expedients  had  failed,  this  clause 
was  added  to  the  document  for  the  special  benefit 
of  the  Flatheads : 

"  Article  XL  It  is,  moreover,  provided  that  the 
Bitter  Root  Valley,  above  the  Lo-Lo  Fork,  shall  be 
carefully  surveyed  and  examined,  and  if  it  shall 
prove,  in  the  judgment  of  the  President,  to  be  bet- 
ter adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  Flathead  tribe  than 
the  general  reservation  provided  for  in  this  treaty, 
then  such  portions  of  it  as  may  be  necessary  shall 
be  set  apart  as  a  separate  reservation  for  said  tribe. 
No  portion  of  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  above  the 
Lo-Lo  Fork,  shall  be  opened  to  settlement  until  such 
examination  is  had  and  the  decision  of  the  President 
made  known." 

47 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  //  it  shall  prove,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Presi- 
dent, to  be  better  adopted  to  the  wants  of  the  Flat- 
head  tribe  —  ".  "  The  pledge  of  the  Great  Father," 
the  Indians  argued;  of  course  the  land  of  their 
fathers  was  better  adapted  to  their  wants  than  the 
barren  Jocko.  With  an  abiding  faith  in  the  nation 
that  gave  to  them  their  first  instructors  in  the  better 
way,  Victor  and  his  chiefs  signed  the  treaty. 

There  seems  to  have  followed  a  subsidence  of  the 
wave  of  immigration  to  that  section  of  country,  and 
no  urgent  demand  for  the  evacuation  of  the  valley 
is  in  evidence  for  a  considerable  period.  Victor  died 
a  few  years  later,  and  the  chieftainship  of  the  tribe 
fell  to  his  son  Charlos  (sometimes  written  Chariot), 
a  man  full  worthy  to  watch  over  the  affairs  of  this 
peaceful  community.  For  seventeen  years  after  the 
signing  of  the  treaty  these  Indians  were  left  in  un- 
disturbed possession  of  their  lands,  except  for  the 
gradual  encroachment  of  the  white  settlers,  and 
during  those  years  they  made  most  remarkable 
progress  in  civilization. 

In  1872  their  number  is  given  as  four  hundred 
and  sixty;  they  have  four  hundred  and  fifty  acres 
in  cultivation,  and  fifty-five  log-houses  furnish  them 
with  comfortable  homes.  Two  thousand  horses  and 
cattle,  and  large  quantities  of  grain  and  vegetables, 
indicate  the  thrift  of  these  Indian  farmers. 

It  would  seem  that  if  ever  a  band  of  Indians 
struggling  toward  the  light  of  a  higher  civilization 

48 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

were  entitled  to  the  earnest  consideration  of  a  power- 
ful republic,  the  Flatheads  should  have  had  that  rec- 
ognition; but  the  surrounding  whites  were  already 
clamoring  for  the  Indian  possessions. 

During  all  these  seventeen  years  the  Bitter  Root 
Valley  had  not  been  "  surveyed  and  examined,"  nor 
had  the  "  judgment  of  the  President  "  been  obtained, 
as  provided  for  in  the  eleventh  article  of  their  treaty. 
The  Indians  had  not  given  the  question  of  title. an- 
other thought.  Since  Victor  signed  the  treaty,  every 
succeeding  year  had  made  the  valley  "  better  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  Flathead  tribe  "  than  the  Jocko  or 
any  other  reservation,  and  the  Indians  held  the  na- 
tional pledge  that  on  this  one  condition  the  land  was 
to  be  set  apart  for  them  as  a  separate  reservation. 

Still,  the  title  had  never  been  formally  settled  in 
the  Indians;  and  the  whites  coveted  the  valley. 
Political  wires  were  manipulated,  and  Washington 
was  appealed  to;  the  great  Juggernaut  which  was 
to  crush  this  band  of  Indians  began  to  move. 

To  dispossess  the  Flatheads,  their  title  must  first 
be  invalidated  under  color  of  law.  This  necessary 
formality  required  "  the  judgment  of  the  President." 
Here  it  is,  signed  by  U.  S.  Grant,  President  of  the 
United  States : 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  November  14,  1871. 

"  The  Bitter  Root  Valley,  above  the  Lo-Lo  Fork, 
in  the  Territory  of  Montana,  having  been  carefully 
4  49 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

surveyed  and  examined  in  accordance  with  the  elev- 
enth article  of  the  treaty  of  July  16,  1855,  concluded 
at  Hell  Gate,  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Flathead,  Kootenai,  and  Upper 
Pend  d'Oreilles  Indians,  which  was  ratified  by  the 
Senate  March  8,  1859,  has  proved,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  President,  not  to  be  better  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  Flathead  tribe  than  the  general  reser- 
vation provided  for  in  said  treaty;  it  is  therefore 
deemed  unnecessary  to  set  apart  any  portion  of  said 
Bitter  Root  Valley  as  a  separate  reservation  for 
Indians  referred  to  in  said  treaty.  It  is  therefore 
ordered  and  directed  that  all  Indians  residing  in  said 
Bitter  Root  Valley  be  removed  as  soon  as  practicable 
to  the  reservation  provided  for  in  the  second  article 
of  said  treaty.  .  .  ." 

This  effectually  cleared  the  land  of  the  Indian 
title.  One  would  infer  that  the  general  reservation 
must  have  been  a  better  land  than  the  Flathead 
home,  although  the  best  portions  of  the  Jocko  had 
long  since  been  taken  by  the  tribes  already  there. 
The  missionary  to  the  Flatheads  wrote  an  earnest 
letter  of  protest,  and  this  is  his  opinion  of  the  land : 

"  I  am  satisfied  to  say  —  and  I  know  the  ground, 
every  inch  —  that  in  that  whole  flat  not  a  couple  of 
hundred  acres  of  middling  farming-land  can  be 
taken.  Besides,  what  there  is  of  good  land  is  in 
small,  narrow  strips,  spots,  and  patches,  far  apart 
one  from  the  other.  Hence  the  necessity  of  fenc- 

50 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

ing  in  large  tracts  of  bad  land,  in  order  to  enclose 
two  or  three  acres  of  good  soil.  The  few  acres  of 
good  farming-land  along  and  on  both  sides  of  Finley 
Creek  have  been  taken  up  long  since  by  half-breeds, 
and  two  or  three  white  men  married  to  Indian 
women.  .  .  ." 

Yet  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  with  its  four  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  of  growing  crops,  its  houses  and 
cattle,  its  Indian  church  and  its  Indian  graves  of 
many  generations,  was  declared  "  in  the  judgment 
of  the  President,  not  to  be  better  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  Flathead  tribe "  than  this  unsubdued 
waste  in  the  Jocko! 

President  Grant's  record  as  a  steadfast  friend  of 
the  Indian  is  too  secure  to  be  called  into  question, 
but  this  executive  order  is  eloquent  of  a  system 
which  can  procure  the  signature  of  an  illustrious 
president  to  as  black  a  lie  as  ever  Russia's  bureau- 
cracy compelled  from  the  hand  of  the  Czar.  Can 
this  business  be  charged  to  the  American  people? 
Certainly  not.  Public  opinion,  whenever  it  has  been 
sufficiently  aroused  to  take  notice  of  Indian  affairs, 
has  invariably  been  with  the  Indians.  But  it  can 
be  charged  to  the  extremely  popular  system  of  gov- 
ernment which  holds  every  national  official  with  his 
ear  to  the  ground,  listening  to  popular  clamor.  Rule 
by  "  the  voice  of  the  people  "  is  well  enough  when 
all  the  people  are  interested,  but  a  disinterested,  con- 
tented people  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  rule  any- 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

thing ;  this  relegates  local  matters,  such  as  the  seizing 
of  Indian  lands,  to  the  control  of  a  very  few  —  the 
interested  few.  Wherever  a  few  faithful  voters  are 
gathered  together,  they  can,  if  they  present  their 
demands  vociferously,  impress  their  own  particular 
congressman  into  their  service.  They  become,  for 
him,  "  the  voice  of  the  people  " ;  silent  ones  do  not 
count.  He  is  the  servant,  not  of  the  whole  Ameri- 
can people,  but  of  his  immediate  constituents.  It 
becomes  his  business  to  secure  the  necessary  legis- 
lation ;  no  matter  how  questionable  the  business  may 
be  nor  how  much  opposed  to  the  righteous  sentiment 
of  the  whole  people,  a  congressman  cannot  rise  above 
the  average  moral  standard  of  his  own  clamorous 
electors  if  he  would  hold  his  political  ground.  But 
this  imposes  no  moral  strain  upon  the  congressman, 
unless  he  be  an  accident  in  office.  He  makes  repre- 
sentations to  the  Indian  bureau,  backed  by  docu- 
ments galore  from  the  anxious  settlers,  and  the  case 
travels  from  official  to  official  as  the  expressed  "  will 
of  the  people."  He  approaches  a  few  other  con- 
gressmen, each  burdened  with  the  wants  of  his 
electors;  "you  support  my  Indian  bill,  I  vote  for 
your  scheme ; "  the  rest  will  vote  "  aye "  anyway, 
little  knowing  whether  it  is  to  be  a  cheese  factory 
for  New  York  City  or  a  junket  to  Hoboken. 

Thus  a  bit  of  depravity  threads  its  way,  unrecog- 
nized, upward  through  the  official  line  to  the  Chief 
Executive.  Thus  a  "  vociferous  few  "  obtain  national 

52 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

legislation  which  would  not  for  a  moment  bear  the 
scrutiny  of  the  whole  people. 

The  plans  for  this  removal  were  well  laid.  The 
Honorable  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  in  his 
report,  alluded  to  these  Indians  as  "  the  Flatheads 
and  other  Indians  remaining  by  sufferance  in  the 
Bitter  Root  Valley,"  and  in  the  spring  Congress 
passed  an  act  ordering  their  removal  to  the  Jocko 
reservation.  Within  ten  weeks  of  the  passage  of 
the  removal  act  special  commissioner  James  A.  Gar- 
field  (afterward  President  of  the  United  States)  ap- 
peared among  the  Flathead  Indians,  to  acquaint  them 
with  the  demands  of  the  Government  and  to  secure 
their  removal. 

The  argument  with  which  they  met  the  mandate 
of  the  Government  is  given  in  General  Garfield's 
own  words: 

"  Responses  were  made  by  the  three  chiefs,  and 
by  several  head-men  of  the  tribe,  and  all  of  the 
same  tenor.  The  substance  of  their  views  may  be 
thus  briefly  stated : 

"  It  seemed  to  be  their  understanding  that  they 
had  never  given  up  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  and  they 
were  very  strongly  opposed  to  leaving  it.  They  in- 
sisted, and  in  this  I  believe  they  are  partly  borne 
out  by  the  facts,  that  when  the  treaty  of  1855  was 
nearly  completed,  Victor,  the  Flathead  chief,  refused 
to  sign  it  unless  he  and  his  people  could  be  permitted 
to  remain  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley. 

53 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  It  will  be  remembered  that  by  that  treaty  a  very 
large  territory  was  ceded  to  the  United  States  —  a 
tract  extending  from  near  the  forty-second  parallel 
to  the  British  line,  and  with  an  average  breadth  of 
nearly  two  degrees  of  longitude;  that  this  territory 
had  long  been  held  in  undisputed  possession  of  the 
Flathead  nation,  and  that,  on  yielding  it,  Victor  in- 
sisted upon  holding  the  Bitter  Root,  above  the 
Lo-Lo  Fork,  as  a  special  reservation  for  the  Flat- 
heads  proper. 

"  The  chiefs  admitted  that,  under  the  provisions  of 
the  eleventh  article,  it  was  left  in  the  power  of  the 
President  to  determine  whether  the  Bitter  Root 
Valley,  above  the  Lo-Lo  Fork,  should  be  reserved 
as  the  permanent  home  of  the  Flatheads.  But  they 
insisted  that  by  that  article  the  President  was  re- 
quired to  have  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  carefully  sur- 
veyed and  examined,  and,  if  it  should  be  better 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  Flatheads,  then  it  should 
be  made  a  permanent  reservation. 

"  They  insisted  that  such  a  survey  and  examina- 
tion should  have  been  made  immediately  after  the 
ratification  of  the  treaty,  but  that  it  had  never  been 
done  at  all.  That  for  seventeen  years  no  steps  had 
been  taken  in  regard  to  it,  and  they  considered  the 
silence  of  the  Government  on  this  subject  an  admis- 
sion that  the  valley  was  to  be  their  permanent  home. 

"  They  further  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
they  had  learned  something  of  civilization,  and  had 

54 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

done  a  good  deal  in  the  way  of  cultivating  the  lands 
and  making  the  valley  a  more  desirable  home.  They 
complained  that  the  schoolmasters,  blacksmiths,  car- 
penters, and  farmers  promised  them  in  the  treaty  of 
1855  had  never  been  sent  into  the  Bitter  Root  Val- 
ley; and  all  the  speakers  concluded  by  the  declara- 
tion that  they  claimed  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  as 
their  home  and  were  wholly  unwilling  to  leave  it. 
They,  however,  affirmed  their  steady  friendship  for 
the  whites  and  disclaimed  any  hostile  intentions,  de- 
claring themselves  willing  to  suffer,  peaceably,  what- 
ever the  Government  should  put  upon  them,  but  that 
they  would  not  go  to  the  reservation." 

But  as  an  officer  of  the  Government  commissioned 
to  execute  a  law  already  enacted,  General  Garfield 
was  not  in  a  position  to  discuss  with  the  Indians 
the  ethics  of  the  situation.  It  became  necessary  to 
inform  them  that  the  question  was,  not  whether  the 
order  was  just  or  unjust,  but,  to  quote  his  words, 
"  whether  they  had  decided  to  disobey  the  order  of 
the  President  and  the  act  of  Congress."  Moreover, 
he  realized,  as  these  Indians  could  not,  the  utter 
futility  of  an  appeal  from  the  decision  of  the  De- 
partment; a  fertile  valley  certainly  would  not  be 
cleared  of  white  men  in  order  that  the  provisions 
of  an  Indian  treaty  might  be  fulfilled.  And  he 
foresaw,  as  they  could  not,  the  pathetic  hopelessness 
of  a  long-continued  struggle  to  maintain  their  homes 
in  this  valley  if  they  resisted  the  command  to  move. 

55 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

It  was  explained  to  the  Indians  that,  by  act  of 
Congress,  the  first  fifty  thousand  dollars  received  from 
the  sale  of  their  lands  were  to  be  used  to  establish 
them  on  the  Jocko;  but  they  contended  (and  Gen- 
eral Garfield  records  his  full  agreement  with  them) 
that  the  sum  was  wholly  inadequate  remuneration, 
even  if  they  were  disposed  to  relinquish  their  homes 
for  any  consideration.  They  were  offered  the  privi- 
lege of  taking  land  in  severalty  in  the  Bitter  Root 
if  they  would  break  up  tribal  relations,  but  the 
proposition  to  accept  a  small  tract  each  out  of  the 
large  valley  which  they  regarded  as  their  own  in 
its  entirety  did  not  appeal  to  their  sense  of  justice. 

Charlos  and  his  people  steadfastly  refused  to  go 
to  the  reservation,  and  the  council  ended  with  the 
secession  of  two  sub-chiefs,  who,  with  their  follow- 
ing of  twenty  families,  consisting  of  eighty-one 
people,  consented  to  remove  to  the  Jocko.  General 
Garfield  contented  himself  with  the  reflection  that 
when  Charlos  saw  these  people  comfortably  housed 
and  specially  favored  he  would  surely  follow. 

Unfortunately  for  the  Indians,  the  missionary  in 
charge  of  the  Agency  Mission  was  in  Helena  at  the 
time  of  the  council.  On  his  return  he  at  once  for- 
warded by  letter  an  appeal  for  the  Indians.  He 
objected  strenuously  to  the  location  on  the  Jocko 
selected  for  them,  and  asserted  that  the  land  "  is 
mostly  rocky  and  gravellous,  and  altogether  unfit  for 
any  agricultural  purposes."  He  continues: 

56 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

"...  Such  being  the  case,  the  consequences  can 
be  easily  foreseen.  Either  the  Flatheads  will  not 
move  to  that  new  place,  or  they  will  soon  abandon 
it,  or  if  they  should  remain  there  the  Government 
will  have  to  feed  and  support  them,  since  they 
could  never  become  self-sustaining  on  it.  The  first 
remark  I  heard  from  the  Indians  on  this  subject, 
on  my  return  from  Helena,  was  simply  this :  '  The 
Great  Chief  has  no  heart  for  the  Indians,  since  he 
intends  to  make  them  settle  down  on  rocks.'  .  .  . 

"  Besides  the  two  objections  above,  there  is  a  third 
one,  deserving  even  more  particular  consideration. 
All  the  Flatheads  are  practical  Catholics.  There  in 
the  Bitter  Root  Valley  they  have  a  Catholic  mis- 
sion and  church  to  themselves;  two  of  our  mission- 
aries live  among  them  to  instruct  them  in  their 
religious  duties  and  minister  to  them  in  all  their 
spiritual  wants.  .  .  . 

"  We  would  have  no  means  to  start  a  new  mis- 
sion for  them  in  their  new  home.  Consequently, 
those  poor  Flatheads  will  be  made  also  necessarily 
to  suffer  in  what  is  most  dear  to  them,  in  what 
they  value  more  than  anything  else  in  this  world, 
viz.,  their  religion  and  the  practice  of  it.  When 
the  whole  Flathead  tribe  will  be  notified  of  this 
fact  I  doubt  not  that  their  unwillingness  and  repug- 
nance to  move  thither  will  be  intensely  increased. 

"  Hoping,  dear  sir,  that  you  will  give  these  my 
observations  the  consideration  your  kindness  may 

57 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

deem  them  to  deserve,  I  beg  to  remain,  respectfully, 
yours, 

"F.   L.   PALLADINI,   S.J. 

"  In  charge  of  Saint  Ignatius  Mission. 
"  HON.  JAMES  A.  GARFIELD,  M.C." 

This  letter  was  laid  before  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  by  General  Garfield,  but  it  availed  nothing. 
The  good  priest  had  a  distorted  idea  as  to  what 
observations  were  likely  to  impress  the  Indian 
bureau. 

Then  began  a  record  unparalleled  in  Indian  his- 
tory for  unique  features.  Charlos  and  his  four 
hundred,  clinging  with  Indian  faith  to  the  promise 
in  the  eleventh  article  of  their  treaty,  determined  to 
stand  by  their  homes  and  passively  await  the  action 
of  their  Great  Father  in  Washington ;  "  to  suffer, 
peaceably,  whatever  the  Government  should  put  upon 
them,"  as  they  had  said,  to  General  Garfield. 

The  Indian  ring  was  in  a  quandary.  To  grant  the 
demands  of  the  "  Vociferous  Few,"  call  out  the  mili- 
tary, and  remove  the  inoffensive  Indians  by  force 
would  advertise  the  malodorous  record  to  the  coun- 
try, with  the  certainty  that  swift  condemnation  of 
the  whole  business  would  follow.  On  the  other 
hand,  to  redeem  the  national  pledge  required  the 
removal  of  the  whites  from  the  Indians'  land,  be- 
sides congressional  and  executive  acts  in  reverse  order 
—  a  retreat  unprecedented,  impossible. 

58 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

Finally  a  plan  of  peaceful  reduction  was  developed. 
All  the  benefits  and  protection  provided  for  in  their 
treaty  were  withdrawn,  and  the  Flatheads  were  left 
to  shift  for  themselves,  —  a  little,  independent  people 
closely  encircled  by  a  hungry  horde  of  frontiersmen. 
Their  history  from  this  time  appears  year  by  year 
in  the  reports  of  the  Jocko  agent. 

One  year;   the  agent  writes: 

"  I  have  visited  most  of  the  Indian  lodges  and 
houses  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  and  talked  as 
much  as  possible  with  the  white  settlers,  and  not- 
withstanding the  desire  of  the  latter  to  see  troops 
brought  into  requisition,  yet  some  of  them  don't 
wish  to  part  with  the  Indians;  nor  can  they  state 
more  than  one  case  in  which  a  Flathead  has  com- 
mitted a  crime  against  a  white  person,  and  this  was 
the  shooting  of  a  cow  by  one  who  received  one 
hundred  and  fifty  lashes  for  the  offence  by  order 
of  the  chief  Charlos." 

Three  years;  Charlos  still  holds  out.  Here  is  a 
quiet  scheme  to  dispossess  him : 

"  There  are  yet  between  300  and  400  Flatheads 
living  in  that  valley,  adherents  of  the  chief  Charlos, 
who  so  far  have  refused  to  listen  to  any  counsel  for 
removal,  and  hold  no  communication  with  the  agency 
whatever;  having  apparently  abandoned  all  relations 
with  the  Government,  believing  that  the  Garfielcl 
treaty  will  never  be  fully  carried  out.  However,  as 
an  order  has  been  issued  by  the  county  authorities 

59 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

for  the  assessment  of  their  property  with  the  view 
of  collecting  taxes,  the  majority  of  them  will,  if  the 
Garfield  promises  are  kept  in  good  faith  before  them, 
probably  remove  to  the  Jocko  within  another  year." 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  Indians  were 
wholly  without  the  protection  of  law,  with  no  stand- 
ing in  the  courts,  and  no  vote  or  other  representa- 
tion of  any  kind.  An  Indian  was  not  even  declared 
to  be  a  person  in  the  eyes  of  the  law  until  1879. 
Now  if  there  is  one  principle  of  government  that 
does  not  find  a  place  in  the  boasted  declarations  of 
the  Free  and  Equal,  it  is  that  of  taxation  without 
representation.  How  will  a  scheme  so  un-American 
be  received  at  the  seat  of  Government? 

The  Honorable  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
in  his  report  for  that  year  to  the  Honorable  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior,  says: 

"  The  remaining  350  Flatheads,  under  two  chiefs, 
are  still  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  and  hold  no  com- 
munication with  the  agency,  and  are  trying  to  main- 
tain themselves  on  their  farms.  Whether  they  will 
prove  equal  to  the  competition  which  the  settlements 
have  brought  around  them,  and  be  able  to  save  their 
property  from  sheriff's  sale  by  prompt  payment  of 
taxes,  is  yet  a  question.  Amid  the  eager  desire  to 
gain  possession  of  their  valuable  farms,  there  will 
be  few  days  of  grace  after  the  taxes  are  due." 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  at  this  time  the 
country  was  celebrating  the  one  hundredth  anniver- 

60 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

sary  of  its  own  famous  protest  against  this  same 
form  of  oppression.  "  Taxation  without  represen- 
tation is  tyranny,"  declared  the  patriot  fathers,  and 
several  hundred  chests  of  taxed  tea  cast  upon  the 
waters  of  Boston  Harbor  proclaimed  their  senti- 
ment in  concrete  terms.  So,  at  this  centennial  time, 
the  Government  looked  approvingly  upon  the  fes- 
tivities of  its  Chosen,  while  it  calmly  discussed  the 
same  scheme  of  taxation  for  another  distressed 
people  —  not  for  revenue  only,  but  as  a  means  to 
gain  the  property  taxed. 

Five  years ;  the  confiscation  scheme  seems  to  have 
failed : 

"  The  whole  Flathead  tribe,  consisting  of  nearly 
four  hundred  souls,  with  the  exception  of  the  few 
families  who  removed  to  this  agency,  adhere  to 
Charlos  and  follow  his  fortunes,  choosing  rather 
to  eke  out  a  livelihood  by  their  own  exertions  in 
the  neighborhood  of  their  venerated  chief  than  to 
accept  the  bounty  of  the  Government  and  leave  their 
homes.  .  .  ." 

The  summer  of  1877  was  an  eventful  one  in  the 
mountains  of  the  Northwest.  A  portion  of  the  Nez 
Perces  in  Idaho,  under  Chief  Joseph,  refused  the  de- 
mand of  the  Government  for  the  evacuation  of  their 
valley  and  location  on  a  reservation.  Troops  were 
hurried  to  the  valley,  and  the  command  to  move 
was  repeated  with  a  show  of  force.  This  led  to 
murder,  and  murder  to  war.  The  Nez  Perces,  flee- 

61 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

ing  before  the  United  States  troops  under  General 
O.  O.  Howard,  came  directly  through  the  Bitter 
Root  Valley.  They  called  upon  their  old  friends, 
the  Flatheads,  to  join  their  cause.  Could  a  tribe 
of  harassed  Indians  resist  this  appeal? 

The  Jocko  agent  reports :  "  They  not  only  refrained 
from  joining  their  ancient  allies,  the  Nez  Perces,  but 
they  gave  them  warning  that  if  an  outrage  was 
committed,  either  to  the  person  or  property  of  any 
settler  of  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  in  their  retreat 
before  General  Howard's  advancing  troops,  they 
would  immediately  make  war  upon  them;  and  to 
this  worthy  action  of  Charlos,  the  non-treaty  Flat- 
head  chief,  and  the  chiefs  and  head-men  of  this 
reservation,  do  the  white  settlers  of  the  Bitter  Root 
Valley  owe  their  preservation  of  life  and  property 
during  those  trying  days." 

Now  it  would  seem  possible  for  a  great  Govern- 
ment to  be  magnanimous  in  a  case  of  this  kind 
without  offending  petty  politicians;  under  similar 
circumstances  one  might  expect  something  handsome 
from  the  king  of  the  Hottentots.  A  communication 
from  the  agent  to  the  Commissioner  contains  the 
story  of  the  Indians'  reward: 

"...  The  Flatheads  lost  their  crops,  owing  in 
part  to  neglect,  caused  by  assisting  the  whites  in 
guarding  their  homes,  and  to  a  hail-storm  which 
cut  everything  down  before  it  that  season,  leaving 
them  destitute,  and  compelling  them  to  go  to  the 

62 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

buffalo  country  to  sustain  life  by  the  chase,  as  they 
were  refused  any  assistance  by  the  government,  al- 
though I  made  an  earnest  appeal  in  their  behalf  at 
the  time." 

Seven  years;   the  lines  are  drawing  closer: 

"  Under  Chief  Charlos  some  350  Flatheads  still 
cling  to  their  homes  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  re- 
fusing to  remove  to  this  reservation.  The  rapid  set- 
tling up  of  the  valley  by  a  white  population  has 
hedged  these  people  in  so  closely  that  there  is  scarcely 
grazing  room  for  their  cattle  and  horses." 

A  new  scheme  now  comes  to  light.  The  Indians 
were  induced  —  by  misrepresentations  which  will  ap- 
pear —  to  sign  a  request  for  patents  of  the  tracts  of 
land  occupied  by  them  individually  as  farms.  Of 
course,  the  acceptance  of  such  patents  would  be 
equivalent  to  a  surrender  of  the  entire  valley,  with 
the  exception  of  the  little  tracts  on  which  they  ac- 
tually lived. 

But  the  abandonment  of  "  the  Bitter  Root  Valley, 
above  the  Lo-Lo  Fork,"  which  Charlos  steadfastly 
insisted  must  be  "  set  apart  as  a  separate  reservation 
for  said  tribe,"  was  far  from  the  Indian  intention. 
They  were  shrewd  enough  to  perceive  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  plan  when  the  patents  were  offered  to 
them.  The  agent  reports: 

"  Charlos,  the  chief,  refused  to  accept  his  patent, 
and  of  course  all  the  Indians  present  followed  his 
example.  In  explanation  he  said,  in  substance,  that 

63 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  treaty  agreed  upon  between  his  father,  Victor, 
head  chief  of  the  Flathead  nation,  and  other  In- 
dian chiefs,  and  Governor  Stevens  on  the  part  of 
the  Government,  on  the  i6th  of  July,  1855,  pro- 
vided that  the  Bitter  Root  Valley,  above  the  Lo-Lo 
Fork,  should  be  set  apart  as  a  separate  reservation 
for  the  Flathead  tribe.  .  .  . 

"  In  regard  to  the  issue  of  the  patents,  Charlos 
claims  that  that  matter  was  never  properly  explained 
to  him  or  his  people,  and  when  they  gave  their  names 
for  title  they  simply  understood  they  were  signing  a 
petition  to  the  President  to  allow  them  to  retain  the 
Bitter  Root  Valley  as  a  separate  reservation  from 
the  Jocko,  as  agreed  upon  by  the  eleventh  article  of 
the  treaty.  I  found  it  in  vain  to  try  to  explain  the 
precise  meaning  and  wording  of  this  clause,  as  he 
persisted  that  it  was  the  Indian  understanding  that 
according  to  the  Stevens  [Victor]  treaty  they  have 
a  valid  right  and  title  to  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  as 
a  reservation.  It  was  also  inferred  by  him  that  if 
his  people  did  accept  the  patents  they  would  not 
know  where  to  find  the  land,  as  a  part  of  what  he 
claimed  to  be  his  land  has  already  been  taken  away 
from  him  by  a  white  man,  who  claimed  his  land 
ran  through  it.  Taxation  and  the  breaking  up  of 
tribal  relations  is  another  objection,  and  also  an 
utter  lack  of  appreciation  or  confidence  in  the  good 
intentions  of  the  Government.  He  fully  appreciates 
the  strength  of  the  Government  and  the  fact  that 

64 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

he  can  be  forced  into  measures,  but  he  claims  that 
if  it  should  come  to  that  he  will  only  ask  the  privi- 
lege to  seek  another  home  in  another  country  of  his 
own  choice  rather  than  give  up  his  title  to  the  Bitter 
Root  as  a  reservation  by  accepting  a  patent  for  his 
farm  or  by  removing  to  the  Jocko. 

"  I  would  state  to  the  honorable  Commissioner 
that  the  affairs  of  the  Flatheads  of  the  Bitter  Root 
Valley  are  in  a  most  deplorable  and  unsatisfactory 
condition,  and  my  motive  in  entering  into  so  many 
details  is  to  place  the  matter  before  you  in  as  in- 
telligent form  as  I  can,  so  that  some  action  may 
be  taken  to  settle  the  question  definitely  without 
resort  to  force.  The  time  is  surely  approaching 
when  the  Bitter  Root  land  question  will  lead  to 
serious  difficulty,  as  the  valley  is  fast  being  settled 
by  thrifty  farmers.  The  chief,  Charlos,  is  a  good 
and  peaceable  Indian,  and  well  respected  by  the 
whites,  but  he  clings  to  the  notion  that  his  people 
have  been  wronged  in  regard  to  the  Bitter  Root 
question." 

Twelve  years;  Charlos  still  gazes  fondly  upon  the 
land  of  his  fathers,  and  awaits  with  childlike  faith 
the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  "  if  it  shall  prove,  in 
the  judgment  of  the  President,  to  be  better  adapted 
to  the  wants  of  the  Flathead  tribe."  The  agent 
suggested  to  the  Department  the  advisability  of 
"  inviting  Charlos  to  a  conference  at  Washington, 
when  the  intentions  of  the  Government  for  the  wel- 
s  65 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

fare  of  his  people  might  be  thoroughly  impressed 
upon  him."  Charlos  went  to  see  the  "  Great  Father." 
The  record  of  that  visit  is  interesting: 

"  In  January,  1884,  Chief  Charlos  and  four  of 
his  head-men,  accompanied  by  the  agent  and  an  in- 
terpreter, visited  Washington  under  orders  from  the 
Indian  Department.  Nearly  a  month  was  spent  at 
the  National  Capitol,  and  during  that  time  several 
interviews  were  held  with  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior, but  no  offer  of  pecuniary  reward  or  persua- 
sion of  the  Secretary  could  shake  Charlos'  resolution 
to  remain  in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley.  An  offer  to 
build  him  a  house,  fence  in  and  plough  a  sufficiency 
of  land  for  a  farm,  give  him  cattle,  horses,  seed, 
agricultural  implements,  and  to  do  likewise  for  each 
head  of  a  family  in  his  band;  also  a  yearly  pension 
to  Charlos  of  $500,  and  [to]  be  recognized  as  the 
heir  of  Victor,  his  deceased  father,  and  to  take  his 
place  as  head  chief  of  the  confederated  tribes  of 
Flatheads,  Pend  d'Oreilles,  and  Kootenais  Indians, 
living  on  the  Jocko  reservation,  had  no  effect." 

On  one  hand,  poverty,  the  white  man's  promise, 
and  the  home  of  his  people;  on  the  other,  plenty, 
and  the  Jocko.  Charlos'  grip  on  the  national  pledge 
could  not  be  loosened;  his  country  was  not  for  sale. 
And  Charlos  seems  to  have  considered  himself  "  the 
heir  of  Victor,  his  deceased  father,"  regardless  of 
Washington's  approval  or  consent. 

Having  failed  to  liquidate  the  national  obligation  in 
66 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

open  conference  with  Charlos,  the  Honorable  Secre- 
tary devised  a  new  plan  of  campaign: 

"  In  compliance  with  verbal  instructions  from  the 
Honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  a  full  report  of 
which  I  furnished  the  Indian  Office  under  date  of 
March  27,  1884,  I  made  certain  propositions  to  in- 
dividual families  to  remove  from  the  Bitter  Root  and 
settle  at  the  Flathead  reservation,  and  the  result 
was  that  twenty-one  heads  of  families  concluded  to 
remove,  and  to  them,  following  the  views  of  the 
Honorable  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  as  expressed  to 
the  Indians  in  Washington,  I  promised  to  each  (i) 
a  choice  of  160  acres  of  unoccupied  land  on  the 
reservation;  (2)  the  erection  of  a  suitable  house; 
(3)  assistance  in  fencing  and  breaking  up  ten  acres 
of  land  for  each  family;  (4)  the  following  gifts: 
two  cows,  a  wagon,  set  of  harness,  a  plough,  with 
other  agricultural  implements,  seed  for  the  first 
year,  and  provisions  until  the  first  crop  was 
harvested." 

Quite  tempting  inducements,  surely.  It  may  be 
interesting  to  know  what  sort  of  Indians  these 
seceders  were;  the  agent  supplies  the  information:  , 

"  The  members  of  Charlos'  band  who  removed 
from  the  Bitter  Root  to  this  agency  cannot  be 
classed  among  the  most  industrious  and  civilized 
members  of  the  tribe.  In  fact  the  colony  is  com- 
posed mostly  of  Indians  who,  with  their  families, 
followed  the  buffalo  until  this  game  became  almost 

67 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

extinct,  and  continued  to  make  a  precarious  living 
by  hunting,  fishing,  and  wandering  among  the 
settlements." 

Fourteen  years;  more  of  the  band  have  given  up 
the  struggle.  Three  hundred  and  forty-one  remain 
in  the  Bitter  Root  Valley. 

Fifteen  years;  the  pressure  is  telling  on  Charlos' 
followers.  The  agent  writes :  "  Those  who  choose 
to  remain  should  be  made  to  understand  that  they 
need  look  no  further  for  Government  aid ; "  and  the 
number  drops  to  two  hundred  and  seventy-eight. 

Sixteen  years;  Charlos  and  one  hundred  and 
eighty-nine  still  cling  to  their  forlorn  hope. 

Seventeen  years;  now  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
six.  But  the  census  of  the  confederated  tribes  on 
the  Jocko  shows  a  decrease  of  one  hundred  and  four. 
The  Indians  seem  in  truth  to  be  going  to  a  "  better 
country." 

Eighteen  years;  still  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
six.  But  a  handful  of  men  cannot  hold  out  forever 
against  a  government  intent  on  their  peaceful  re- 
duction. Denied  the  protection  of  the  courts  against 
the  encroachment  of  the  whites,  they  were  finally 
reduced  to  a  condition  of  abject  poverty.  The  time 
was  at  hand  when  the  interests  of  humanity,  in  the 
absence  of  original  justice,  demanded  that  these 
people  be  wrested  from  the  land  they  loved  too 
well.  At  this  opportune  time  a  proposition  was 
made  to  sell  their  lands  and  improvements  and  de- 

68 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

vote  the  proceeds  to  their  establishment  on  the 
Jocko.  The  terms  were  accepted,  and  in  1890, 
after  eighteen  years  of  endeavor  as  an  independent 
people,  maintaining  to  the  last  the  peace  they  had 
promised  to  General  Garfield,  Charlos  and  his 
band  surrendered  their  beloved  valley  of  the  Bitter 
Root. 

Such  a  surrender  arouses  a  mingled  feeling  of 
relief  and  added  interest.  Of  relief,  for  the  van- 
quished are  no  more  under  the  stern  displeasure  that 
has  borne  them  down;  of  added  interest,  for  it 
brings  opportunity  to  a  magnanimous  victor. 
This  is  the  record  in  the  Great  Book: 
"  The  last  arrangement  with  this  unfortunate  band 
and  the  delay  in  its  consummation  has  entirely  dis- 
couraged the  Indians.  They  are  now  helpless  and 
poverty-stricken  on  their  land  in  that  valley,  look- 
ing forward  to  the  promise  for  the  sale  of  lands 
patented  to  certain  members  of  that  band  and  to 
their  removal  to  this  reservation.  The  hope  was 
given  them,  when  their  consent  was  secured  for  an 
appraisement  and  sale  of  their  lands  and  improve- 
ments, that  arrangements  would  be  made  to  remove 
them  to  the  Jocko  reservation  before  the  ist  of 
March,  1890,  in  order  to  give  them  an  opportun- 
ity to  select  lands  on  the  reserve  and  to  put  in 
crops  to  harvest  this  year.  With  that  view  they 
could  not  be  induced  to  plough  or  sow  their  land  in 
the  Bitter  Root  Valley.  They  are  destitute  of  means 

69 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

of  support  and,  if  the  contemplated  appropriation  to 
remove  and  support  them  until  they  can  raise  crops 
is  not  carried  out  this  year,  some  means  should  be 
adopted  to  furnish  them  with  provisions,  or  they 
will  certainly  suffer  from  starvation." 

The  Indians  were  in  fact  not  removed  until  the 
autumn  of  the  following  year.  It  seems  beyond 
belief  that  indifference  for  the  welfare  of  this  tribe 
should  have  followed  so  closely  upon  their  giving 
up  the  coveted  valley,  but  for  some  inexplicable 
reason  the  money  received  from  the  sale  of  their 
farms  was  withheld  for  three  years  more,  although 
$14,674.53  were  reported  on  hand  in  1892,  nearly 
two  years  before  the  first  payment  was  made  to 
them.  In  1893  the  agent  reports: 

"  These  Indians  are  very  anxious  in  regard  to  the 
payment  to  them  of  the  money  already  paid  to  the 
Government  from  sale  of  certain  tracts  of  said  lands, 
claiming  that  it  was  promised  to  be  sent  without 
delay  for  distribution  to  the  owners  or  heirs  of  the 
same,  in  order  to  enable  them  to  improve  and  cul- 
tivate their  new  farms  on  their  reservation." 

The  record  discloses  nothing  that  accounts  for 
this  situation.  It  deals  with  facts,  not  explanations. 
But  we  find  these  once  independent  farmers  on  a 
bare  reservation,  without  means  to  begin  life  anew, 
reduced  to  the  condition  of  ration  Indians,  living 
for  four  years  on  the  bounty  of  the  Government. 
The  voice  of  Charlos  is  raised  in  one  continued 

70 


The  Story  of  the  Bitter  Root 

protest;  but  even  this  man  of  indomitable  will  seems 
to  have  reached  the  limit  of  his  endurance,  and  it 
is  painful  to  find  him  at  last  embittered,  broken 
in  spirit,  with  little  faith  in  the  white  man  and  his 
ways. 

Finally,  four  years  after  their  surrender  of  the 
Bitter  Root,  the  first  payment  arrived: 

"  This  payment  was  made  at  a  most  opportune 
time  in  the  early  spring.  The  money  was  paid  by 
check,  but  the  following  day  all  the  beneficiaries 
proceeded  by  rail  to  Missoula,  where,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  agent,  their  checks  were  cashed,  and 
though  the  sum  paid  was  over  $18,000,  and  the 
number  of  Indians  receiving  shares  was  47,  not  one 
of  their  number  could  be  tempted  by  the  numerous 
whiskey  vendors,  and  all,  after  making  some  pur- 
chases of  tools,  implements,  clothing,  and  provisions, 
returned  quietly  to  their  reservation." 

Here  we  leave  Charlos  and  his  heroic  band. 
Charlos  —  an  ignorant,  unknown  Indian.  But  in 
patriotic  endeavor  for  his  people  according  to  his 
light;  in  steadfast  love  of  liberty,  justice,  and  native 
land,  he  shared  in  the  nobility  of  some  with  whom 
the  Fates  have  dealt  more  kindly.  A  once  struggling 
people  are  pleased  to  call  such  a  man  the  Father  of 
his  country. 

It  is  the  story  of  an  endeavor  that  failed.  The 
Bitter  Root  Valley  was  added  to  the  land  of  the 
Noble  Free,  at  a  cost  in  money  insignificant  com- 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

pared  with  its  value;  but  in  the  pledging  of  the 
national  faith,  "  if  it  shall  prove,  in  the  judgment 
of  the  President,  to  be  better  adapted  to  the  wants 
of  the  Flathead  tribe,"  have  they  not  paid  the  price 
incalculable  —  the  national  honor? 


THE    NEZ   PERCES 

"  The  line  was  made  as  I  wanted  it ;  not  for  me,  but  my  children 
that  will  follow  me ;  there  is  where  I  live,  and  there  is  where  I  want  to 
leave  my  body.  The  land  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  is  what  we  gave 
to  the  Great  Father."  Joseph,  Nez  Perce  Chief, 

WITH  many  words  of  friendship  the  Nez 
Perce  chiefs,  speaking  in  Indian  council 
forty-five    years    ago,    hailed    the    long- 
delayed  ratification  of  the  treaty  which  gave  to  the 
white  man  the  Nez  Perce  country,  and  to  the  Nez 
Perces  an  Indian  reservation  within  it. 

Four  years  before  —  in  1855  —  the  treaty  had 
been  signed  by  the  chiefs  and  head-men  of  the  Nez 
Perce  nation  in  council  with  Governor  Stevens,  of 
Washington,  and  Governor  Palmer,  of  Oregon.  The 
reservation  secured  to  the  Indians  was  of  generous 
proportions.  It  included  the  principal  valleys  occu- 
pied by  the  different  bands,  or  tribes,  of  the  nation, 
and  the  hardship  of  severing  their  connection  with 
native  land  fell  upon  very  few  of  the  Nez  Perces. 
"  Nor  shall  any  white  man,"  the  treaty  recites, 
"  excepting  those  in  the  employment  of  the  Indian 
Department,  be  permitted  to  reside  upon  the  said 
reservation  without  permission  of  the  tribe  and  the 
superintendent  and  agent."  In  consideration  for  the 
cession  of  territory,  the  Nez  Perces  were  to  have 

73 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

annuities,  schools,  blacksmiths,  carpenters,  farmers, 
a  sawmill,  and  a  gristmill ;  the  head  chief,  a  very 
politic  old  Indian  named  "  Lawyer,"  found  himself 
—  in  the  treaty  —  provided  with  a  furnished  house 
and  five  hundred  dollars  a  year.  This  was  desig- 
nated by  courtesy  as  "  salary."  Head  chiefs  in  more 
highly  organized  society  have  been  propitiated  in 
much  the  same  way. 

It  was  a  most  liberal  treaty;  and  it  was  good 
policy  to  make  a  liberal  treaty  with  these  most 
numerous  and  powerful  of  all  the  mountain  Indians, 
especially  in  view  of  the  fierce  rush  for  gold  that 
had  maddened  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  great  North- 
west to  the  verge  of  war.  During  that  year  Gov- 
ernors Stevens  and  Palmer  made  treaties  with  many 
of  the  tribes,  under  instructions  from  Washington, 
to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to  the  gold  region  and 
gather  the  natives  upon  reservations. 

The  subsequent  history  of  the  Northwest  would 
have  been  less  bloody,  less  filled  with  tales  of  Indian 
massacres  and  Indian  wars,  had  the  Government  ful- 
filled with  any  degree  of  promptness  its  obligations; 
but  Congress,  year  after  year,  failed  to  render  the 
treaties  operative  by  ratifying  them,  while  the  In- 
dians, accepting  in  good  faith  the  terms  of  their 
agreements,  vacated  the  ceded  lands  and  gathered 
upon  the  tracts  reserved  for  them,  to  await  the  bene- 
fits that  were  promised  in  the  way  of  •  annuities,  in- 
struction, and  implements  of  agriculture. 

74 


The  Nez  Perces 

They  waited  in  vain.  Deprived  as  they  were  of 
their  hunting-grounds  and  the  only  means  of  sub- 
sistence, starvation  and  the  inhuman  treatment  of 
the  miners  soon  drove  them  to  desperation;  the  rec- 
ords are  full  of  their  pleadings  with  Government 
agents  to  give  them  relief. 

"  I  am  not  a  bad  man,"  says  Seattle,  a  great  chief 
in  western  Washington,  "  I  am,  and  always  have 
been,  a  friend  to  the  whites.  I  listen  to  what  Mr. 
Paige  says  to  me,  and  I  do  not  steal,  nor  do  I  or 
any  of  my  people  kill  the  whites. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Simmons,  why  don't  our  papers  come 
back  to  us?  You  always  say  you  hope  they  will 
soon  come,  but  they  do  not.  I  fear  we  are  for- 
gotten, or  that  we  are  to  be  cheated  out  of  our 
land. 

"  I  have  been  very  poor  and  hungry  all  winter, 
and  am  very  sick  now  [a  fact].  In  a  little  while 
I  will  die.  I  should  like  to  be  paid  for  my  land  be- 
fore I  die.  Many  of  my  people  died  during  the  last 
cold,  scarce  winter,  without  getting  their  pay. 

"  When  I  die  my  people  will  be  very  poor.  They 
will  have  no  property,  no  chief,  no  one  to  talk  for 
them.  You  must  not  forget  them,  Mr.  Simmons, 
when  I  am  gone. 

"  We  are  ashamed  when  we  think  that  the  Puyal- 
lups  have  their  papers.  They  fought  against  the 
whites,  while  we,  who  have  never  been  angry  with 
them,  get  nothing." 

75 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

And  this  from  a  Snohomish  chief: 

"  We  want  our  treaty  to  be  concluded  as  soon  as 
possible;  we  are  tired  of  waiting.  Our  reasons  are 
that  our  old  people  (and  there  are  many  of  them) 
are  dying.  Look  at  those  two  old  men  and  old 
women;  they  have  only  a  little  while  to  live,  and 
they  want  to  get  their  pay  for  their  land.  The 
white  people  have  taken  it,  and  you,  Mr.  Simmons, 
promised  us  that  we  should  be  paid.  You  and 
Governor  Stevens.  Suspense  is  killing  us.  We  are 
afraid  to  plant  potatoes  on  the  river  bottoms,  lest 
some  bad  white  man  should  come  and  make  us  leave 
the  place. 

"  You  know  what  we  are,  Mr.  Simmons.  You 
were  the  first  American  we  ever  knew,  and  our  chil- 
dren remember  you  as  long  as  they  remember  any- 
thing. I  was  a  boy  when  I  first  knew  you.  You 
know  we  do  not  want  to  drink  liquor,  but  we  cannot 
help  it  when  the  bad  '  Bostons  '  bring  it  to  us. 

"  When  our  treaty  was  made  we  told  our  hearts 
to  you  and  Governor  Stevens ;  they  have  not  changed 
since.  I  have  done." 

There  is  a  significant  interest  in  this  one: 

"  I  will  now  talk  about  our  treaties.  When  is  the 
Great  Father  that  lives  across  the  far  mountains 
going  to  send  us  our  papers  back?  Four  summers 
have  now  passed  since  you  and  Governor  Stevens 
told  us  we  would  get  pay  for  our  land.  We  re- 
member well  what  you  said  to  us  then,  over  there 

76 


The  Nez  Perces 

[pointing  to  Point  Elliott],  and  our  hearts  are  very 
sick  because  you  do  not  do  as  you  promised.  We 
saw  the  Nisquallys  and  Puyallups  get  their  annuity 
paid  them  last  year,  and  our  hearts  were  sick  be- 
cause we  could  get  nothing.  We  never  fought  the 
whites;  they  did.  If  you  whites  pay  the  Indians 
that  fight  you,  it  must  be  good  to  fight." 

"  It  must  be  good  to  fight."  Slowly  the  Indians 
came  into  a  full  understanding  of  the  "  hopelessly 
illogical  "  policy  of  the  Government  under  which  its 
benefits  were  "  proportioned  not  to  the  good  but  to 
the  ill  desert  of  the  several  tribes."  •  War  and  deso- 
lation filled  the  land,  and  the  tribes  of  the  moun- 
tains stubbornly  maintained  an  unequal  struggle  for 
that  which,  to  their  untutored  minds,  seemed  to  be 
their  own  country.  A  despairing  and  pathetic  con- 
test it  is  when  an  unlettered  race,  with  its  simple 
views  of  fundamental  justice,  comes  against  calcu- 
lating, enlightened,  and  overwhelming  might;  the 
dim  realization  of  inferiority  kindles  in  the  be- 
nighted mind  a  desperate  ferocity  which  is  akin  to 
patriotic  zeal  in  more  civilized  defenders  of  native 
land. 

It  is  impossible  to  account  for  this  policy  of  in- 
action. Millions  more  were  spent  in  these  wars  than 
would  have  met  every  obligation  under  the  treaties. 
Superintendents,  agents,  and  army  officers  in  the  field 
sent  appeal  after  appeal  to  the  Government  to  act 
upon  the  treaties  and  stop  the  useless  destruction. 

77 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

One  agent,  sending  in  the  pleas  of  several  still 
friendly  Indian  chiefs,  writes: 

"  After  reading  this  I  think  that  you,  sir,  must 
agree  with  me  in  thinking  that  humanity,  as  well  as 
justice,  makes  it  an  imperative  duty  of  Government 
to  adopt  some  plan  by  which  the  Indians  can  be 
separated  from  the  whites.  Their  forbearance  has 
been  remarkable.  While  they  had  the  power  of 
crushing  us  like  worms  they  treated  us  like  brothers. 
We,  I  think,  should  return  their  kindness  now  that 
we  have  the  power,  and  our  duty  is  so  plainly  pointed 
out  by  their  deplorable  situation.  My  own  impres- 
sion is  that  the  speediest  and  best  way  of  settling 
all  these  difficulties  is  the  ratification  of  the  treaties. 
The  agents  will  then  have  the  means  in  their  hands 
of  supplying  all  that  I  now  think  is  wanting  to  en- 
able them  to  govern  these  unhappy  creatures,  and 
to  lay  the  groundwork  of  civilization  for  their  chil- 
dren to  improve  upon." 

An  officer  in  the  field  calls  the  attention  of  the  Hon- 
orable Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  with  no  minc- 
ing of  words  to  the  labors  of  Stevens  and  Palmer : 

"  Those  seeing  these  things  at  a  still  later  day, 
and  being  in  position  to  avert  them  by  a  wise,  dis- 
creet policy  for  ourselves,  and  a  just  one  for  the 
Indian,  set  to  work,  and  from  the  Rocky  Mountains 
to  the  Pacific  coast  labored  hard  and  long  in  the 
field  and  office,  travelling  through  every  Indian  tribe, 
learning  their  history  and  wants,  and  with  the  au- 

78 


The  Nez  Perces 

thoritative  voice  of  the  Government  made  three  years 
ago  treaties  with  these  Northwestern  Indians,  and  to 
this  day  the  labors  of  Governor  Stevens  are  disre- 
garded and  uncared  for,  and  the  treaties  containing 
the  solemn  promises  of  the  Indian  on  the  one  side, 
and  binding  obligations  of  the  Government  on  the 
other,  lie  among  the  dusty  archives  of  Congress, 
while  a  war  rages  in  every  quarter  of  the  Northwest 
coast.  The  Indians  feel  that  their  rights  have  been 
trifled  with  by  promises,  made  by  agents  armed  and 
vested  with  authority  to  act,  which  the  Government 
has  not  ratified.  And  will  it,  I  ask,  longer  remain 
in  this  passive  mood?  Will  it  longer  act  inertly 
while  lives  are  sacrificed  and  millions  squandered, 
and  still  longer  hesitate  to  act?  For  one  I  trust 
not.  Let  these  be  ratified.  .  .  ." 

In  the  command  of  this  officer  was  a  company  of 
thirty  Nez  Perce  warriors,  who,  the  record  recites, 
"  marshalling  themselves  under  brave  war  chiefs, 
were  placed  at  his  disposal  to  assist  him  in  finding 
and  fighting  his  enemy."  Writing  of  the  Nez  Perce 
tribe,  this  officer  says : 

"  This  is  the  same  people  who,  meeting  the  flying 
columns  of  Colonel  Steptoe  in  hot  night-retreat,  hav- 
ing abandoned  animals,  provisions,  and  guns  behind 
them,  received  him  with  open  arms,  succored  his 
wounded  men,  and  crossed  in  safety  his  whole  com- 
mand over  the  difficult  and  dangerous  south  fork  of 
the  Columbia.  .  .  . 

79 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  They  are  far  advanced  already  in  civilization  — 
much  further  than  any  tribe  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  except  the  Flatheads.  They  are  inclined 
to  agriculture;  already  raise  wheat,  corn,  and  vege- 
tables, with  the  rudest  of  means.  When  asked  by 
Colonel  Wright  what  they  wanted,  their  reply  was 
well  worthy  of  a  noble  race :  '  Peace,  ploughs,  and 
schools'  And  will  you,  can  you,  longer  refuse  them 
these?  I  ask,  therefore,  to  commend  these  noble 
people.  Colonel  Wright  has  given  me  the  command 
of  this  band  of  warriors  while  in  the  field,  and 
hence  I  am  in  a  position  to  know  and  study  them. 
I  ask  that  a  special  appropriation  be  made  to  give 
these  people  schools,  farms,  and  seeds;  that  means 
be  taken  to  so  build  them  up  in  their  mountain 
homes  that  we  may  be  enabled  to  point  with  joy- 
ous pride  to  a  first  few  tutored  savages  reclaimed 
from  their  wild,  nomadic  habits;  and  while  asking, 
aye  petitioning,  for  these,  I  cannot  forget  my  old 
mountain  friends  the  Flatheads  and  Pend  d'Oreilles. 
As  yet  they  are  friendly,  and  I  ask  that  you  retain 
their  friendship.  I  made  both  to  Governor  Stevens 
and  to  yourself,  four  year  ago,  petitions  in  their 
favor;  but,  alas!  they  passed  unheeded.  I  again 
renew  them,  and  ask  that  steps,  prompt  and  efficient, 
be  taken  that  will  avert  from  these  noble  bands  the 
devastating  arm  of  war.  I  ask  not  that  my  version 
be  taken  alone,  but  simply  ask  that  it  go  to  form 
part  and  parcel  of  versions  given  by  abler  pens,  and 

80 


The  Nez  Perces 

men  who  saw  but  to  reflect  upon  the  past  and  future 
destiny  of  the  Indians.  I  point  you,  commencing 
with  Lewis  and  Clark  in  1804  to  the  present  day, 
to  the  accounts  of  all  travellers  across  the  continent; 
and  with  one  accord  they  point  to  the  Nez  Perces 
and  Flatheads  as  two  bright,  shining  points  in  a 
long  and  weary  pilgrimage  across  a  prairie  desert 
and  rugged  mountain  barrier,  alive  with  savage 
hordes  of  Indians,  where  they  have  been  relieved 
and  aided  when  most  in  need;  and  instances  suffi- 
ciently numerous  to  swell  a  volume  exist,  that  render 
it  needless  for  me  here  to  refer  to  them.  But  I 
make  one  more  appeal  in  behalf  of  these  people." 

Chief  Lawyer  joined  in  the  general  appeal  with  a 
diplomatic  reminder,  addressed  to  Governor  Stevens: 

"  At  this  place  about  three  years  since  we  had  our 
talk,  and  since  that  time  I  have  been  waiting  to  hear 
from  our  Big  Father.  We  are  very  poor.  It  is 
other  people's  badness.  It  is  not  our  fault,  and  I 
would  like  to  hear  what  he  has  to  say.  If  he  thinks 
our  agreement  good,  our  hearts  will  be  thankful. 

"  Colonel  Wright  has  been  over  after  the  bad 
people,  and  has  killed  some  of  the  bad  people  and 
hung  sixteen;  and  now  I  am  in  hopes  we  will  have 
peace." 

This  the  Governor  at  once  sent  to  the  Commis- 
sioner in  Washington,  with  an  appeal  for  the  rati- 
fication of  their  treaty. 

In  1859  the  wars  ended,  as  all  Indian  wars  end, 
6  81 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

with  the  last  hostile  tribe  "  reduced  to  the  condition 
of  suppliants  for  charity."  Throughout  the  four 
years  the  Nez  Perces,  Flatheads,  and  Pend  d'Oreilles 
remained  steadfast  friends  of  the  whites,  and  the 
ratification  of  their  treaties  came  as  a  long-delayed 
reward. 

A  Government  agent  bore  the  news  to  the  expec- 
tant Nez  Perces,  and  a  grand  council  was  called  to 
welcome  the  word  from  their  Great  Father.  Law- 
yer, the  head  chief,  Joseph,  Looking-glass,  and  numer- 
ous sub-chiefs,  voiced  their  hearty  approval  of  their 
new  relation  to  the  Great  Father  in  Washington; 
in  the  characteristic  Indian  way  they  expressed  their 
gratitude,  their  firm  determination  to  maintain  a 
perpetual  peace,  their  blind  confidence  in  the  stability 
of  the  new  covenant.  The  record  of  this  council  is 
quite  complete. 

Lawyer,  head  chief  of  the  Nez  Perces  nation,  made 
the  opening  speech : 

"  I  heard  you  talk  yesterday.  I  heard  what  the 
Great  Father  said.  He  has  laws  for  his  white  chil- 
dren and  for  his  red  children.  He  says :  '  My  white 
children  must  do  what  is  right,  and  my  red  children 
must  do  the  same;  that  is  the  law.' 

"  The  Great  Father  tells  us  his  heart  through  you, 
and  now  you  have  told  us  all  he  has  to  say;  it  is 
good.  Your  law  for  us  is  right.  I  respect  the  law; 
my  children  and  young  men  respect  it. 

"  Now,  I  will  tell  you  my  heart ;  the  chiefs  arc 
82 


The  Nez  Perces 

here,  and  I  want  them  to  listen  to  me.  I  don't  want 
any  of  my  chiefs  and  young  men  to  harm  the  whites ; 
we  always  were  friends,  are  now  and  always  will  be; 
you  all  know  my  heart,  it  is  to  do  right.  That  is 
all  I  have  to  say." 

Looking-glass,  a  sub-chief  in  Joseph's  tribe,  then 
spoke : 

"  I  am  now  going  to  say  to  you  what  I  said  to 
Governor  Stevens,  four  years  ago.  I  told  him  the 
amount  of  country  I  wanted,  and  where  it  laid,  and 
also  what  I  wanted  it  for.  Governor  Stevens  said 
yes.  That  is  all  I  said  in  council.  Our  treaty  was 
sent  to  the  Great  Father,  and  he  answers  it  now. 
He  says  yes;  his  word  has  come.  It  is  the  same 
as  if  I  had  seen  the  great  father  and  exchanged 
hearts  with  him.  He  says  he  wants  my  children 
to  do  well ;  he  will  take  care  of  them.  He  talks  of 
this  country.  I  want  all  of  you  to  talk;  all  of  my 
young  men  to  talk.  I  am  thankful  for  the  word  the 
Great  Father  has  sent  us." 

And  another: 

"  E-YEM-MO-MO-KIN.  Yes,  my  friends,  I  heard  my 
name  called  yesterday,  on  the  list  of  signers  of  the 
treaty.  Now,  I  am  going  to  talk.  I  am  an  old 
man ;  you  told  us  yesterday  that  we  old  men  will 
die  on  our  own  lands,  and  I  thank  you,  my  white 
friend.  I  am  glad  to  hear  from  our  Great  Father, 
and  to  know  that  he  will  provide  for  our  children 
that  will  follow  us.  It  makes  my  heart  good. 

83 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  I  want  them  to  take  hold  of  hands  and  never 
let  go.  We  have  taken  your  hands,  my  white  friend, 
and  I  hope  we  will  never  part.  I  have  heard  the 
Lawyer  and  others  talk,  and  my  heart  is  the  same 
as  theirs." 

Joseph,  chief  of  the  Nez  Perces  in  the  Wallowa 
Valley,  delivered  the  most  serious  and  thoughtful 
speech  of  them  all.  Looking  into  the  future,  as  his 
fellow-chiefs  evidently  did  not,  he  saw  in  the  white 
man's  protection  the  loss  of  Indian  control,  of  tribal 
restraint,  and  in  the  loose  communism  of  the  reser- 
vation he  saw  the  danger  to  the  individual.  Joseph 
saw  these  things  darkly,  instinctively ;  his  untutored 
mind  could  grasp  only  the  immediate  needs  of  his 
people;  but  the  breaking  down  of  tribal  restraints 
without  the  substitution  of  adequate  law,  and  the 
herding  together  of  a  heterogeneous  mass  in  a  com- 
munism of  idleness  with  the  consequent  destruction 
of  individual  incentive,  have  been  solely  responsible 
for  the  fearful  degeneracy  of  the  reservation  Indian 
during  the  past  forty  years.  In  Joseph's  words  there 
is  a  wisdom  that  he  knew  not  of;  his  earnest  plea 
for  the  Indian's  individuality  is  of  deep  significance: 

"  I  want  to  tell  you  my  heart.  I  am  a  red  man. 
I  have  my  own  opinion  about  this  country ;  we  should 
make  up  our  minds  before  we  talk.  When  we  made 
a  treaty  with  Governor  Stevens,  the  line  was  drawn; 
I  know  where  it  is;  you  told  us  right  yesterday;  it 
is  as  you  said.  When  Governor  Stevens  made  the 

84 


The  Nez  Perces 

line,  he  wanted  a  certain  chain  of  mountains.  I  said 
no,  I  wanted  it  to  hunt  in,  not  for  myself,  but  for 
my  children;  but  my  word  was  doubted. 

"  The  line  was  made  as  I  wanted  it ;  not  for  me, 
but  my  children  that  will  follow  me;  there  is  where 
I  live,  and  there  is  where  I  want  to  leave  my  body. 
The  land  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  is  what  we 
gave  to  the  Great  Father. 

"  You  told  us  yesterday  if  there  is  anything  we 
do  not  understand,  you  will  explain.  I  will  tell  you 
one  thing;  I  have  a  great  many  bad  young  men. 
I  don't  want  them  all  to  live  together  in  one  place; 
it  will  not  do.  We  have  too  many  horses  and  cattle 
to  feed  on  one  piece  of  land;  and  I  am  afraid  that 
my  young  men  and  young  men  of  other  parties  will 
not  get  along  together.  I  don't  only  talk  so  to-day, 
but  I  will  tell  you  the  same  some  other  time.  We 
will  talk  this  matter  over  some  other  time. 

"  My  young  men  get  drunk,  quarrel,  and  fight,  and  I 
don't  know  how  to  stop  it.  A  great  many  of  my  men 
have  been  killed  by  it;  and  I  am  afraid  of  liquor. 

"  I  think  we  cannot  all  live  in  one  place ;  it  is 
better  for  each  tribe  to  live  in  their  own  country. 
We  will  talk  of  this  matter  some  other  time. 

"  This  summer  some  of  my  children  were  mixed 
up  with  other  tribes,  and  some  of  them  done  wrong; 
and  if  the  buildings  you  spoke  of,  and  are  mentioned 
in  the  treaty,  were  divided,  it  would  be  better  for  us 
all.  I  have  told  you  my  mind  as  it  is.  I  wish  you 

85 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

could  arrange  it  so  we  could  live  in  our  own  coun- 
try. I  know  my  young  men  are  wild,  and  it  is  better 
to  keep  them  separated.  It  is  better  for  all  to  live 
as  we  are.  That  is  all  I  have  to  say." 

The  agent  was  impressed :  "  I  have  heard  Joseph 
talk,"  he  responded,  "  and  my  heart  is  glad.  His 
talk  is  that  of  a  wise  man."  Joseph  prevailed,  and 
the  different  tribes  maintained  their  separate  exist- 
ence, each  in  its  native  valley,  but  still  within  the 
limits  of  the  reservation;  in  the  words  of  the  Hon- 
orable Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  "  Chief  Law- 
yer occupying  the  Kamiah  Valley,  Big  Thunder  the 
Lapwai,  Timothy  the  Alpowai,  Joseph  the  Wallowa, 
and  Billy  the  Salmon  River  Valley." 

In  his  report  of  this  council  with  the  Nez  Perces, 
the  agent  says: 

"  This  tribe,  who  have  been  the  friends  of  the 
whites  since  the  visit  of  Lewis  and  Clark  to  the 
country,  having  protected  and  saved  the  lives  of 
Governor  Stevens  and  his  party,  in  1855;  organized 
a  party  who  served  with  Colonel  Wright  during  his 
campaign  against  the  hostiles  last  year;  and  during 
every  exigency  where  the  whites  have  needed  friends, 
they  have  been  their  firm  allies,  and  [are]  entitled 
to  great  consideration  on  the  part  of  Government." 

But  subsequent  happenings  give  this  paragraph  a 
peculiar  interest: 

"  I  found  there  had  been  great  dissatisfaction, 
not  in  regard  to  the  treaty,  but  from  the  circula- 

86 


,  —  NEZ  PERCE 


(,871) 


The  Nez  Perces 

tion  of  false  rumors  amongst  them  by  renegades 
from  other  tribes,  to  the  effect  that  they  were  being 
deluded  with  the  idea  that  their  *  treaty '  was  good, 
and  would  be  carried  out  until  the  whites  and  soldiers 
were  strong  enough  to  take  their  lands  by  force" 

The  meddlers  may  have  been  "  renegades  " ;  but  in 
making  this  prediction  they  were  wizards,  soothsayers. 

Scarcely  had  the  Nez  Perces  settled  down  under 
the  treaty  to  learn  the  white  man's  way,  when  the 
discovery  of  gold  brought  a  rush  of  miners  and 
adventurers  into  the  reservation  itself.  No  effort 
seems  to  have  been  made  to  restrain  them,  and  the 
provision  in  the  covenant,  "  nor  shall  any  white 
man  ...  be  permitted  to  reside  upon  said  reserva- 
tion," became  a  dead  letter.  Indeed,  the  whole 
energy  of  the  interested  white  population  was  di- 
rected toward  securing  another  curtailment  of  the 
Indians'  country.  Year  by  year  the  situation  grew 
worse;  the  official  story  is  briefly  told  by  the  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs  in  a  report  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior: 

"  In  defiance  of  law,  and  despite  the  protestations 
of  the  Indian  agent,  a  town  site  was  laid  off  in 
October,  1861,  on  the  reservaton,  and  Lewiston, 
with  a  population  of  twelve  hundred,  sprung  into 
existence.  .  .  . 

"  By  the  spring  of  1863  it  was  very  evident  that, 
from  the  change  of  circumstances  and  contact  with 
the  whites,  a  new  treaty  was  required  to  properly 

87 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

define    and,    if   possible,    curtail    the   limits    of   the 
reserve." 

'  To  properly  define  and,  if  possible,  curtail  the 
limits  of  the  reserve."  A  most  diplomatic  phrase; 
the  Honorable  Commissioner  was  writing  for  public 
perusal.  To  "  properly  define,"  primarily,  and  to 
"  curtail,"  incidentally,  a  new  treaty  was  required. 
Diplomacy  never  more  delicately  screened  a  real  in- 
tention behind  a  fictitious  one.  No  time  was  wasted 
in  defining  the  limits  of  the  reserve;  the  white  men 
knew  where  they  were ;  the  Indians  understood  them ; 
nobody  misunderstood  them.  A  new  treaty  was 
drawn  up,  cutting  down  the  reservation  to  a  plat 
of  land  about  one-eighth  of  its  original  size,  in  the 
centre  of  the  old  reserve.  Then  came  the  usual 
struggle  to  gain  the  Indian  assent.  The  Wallowa 
Valley  was  excluded  under  the  new  treaty,  and 
Joseph  refused  to  sign  it;  Looking-glass,  White 
Bird,  and  many  other  chiefs  whose  country  was  to 
be  taken  from  them,  refused  to  sign.  Even  Lawyer, 
the  head  chief,  whose  country  in  the  Kamiah  was 
to  be  made  the  centre  of  the  many  benefits  to  come 
from  the  new  treaty,  held  out  long  against  the 
humiliating  cut  to  "  twenty  acres  each  "  of  tillable 
land  for  each  adult  male.  But  the  treaty  is  full  of 
"  Kamiah,"  although  the  agency  was  at  Lapwai. 
"  Ten  thousand  dollars  for  the  erection  of  a  saw 
and  flouring  mill,  to  be  located  at  Kamiah " ;  a 
church  "  on  the  Kamiah  " ;  a  blacksmith  shop  "  at 

88 


The  Nez  Perces 

Kamiah  " ;  Lawyer's  "  salary  "  was  continued,  and  a 
like  "  salary  "  to  two  of  his  sub-chiefs,  "  who  shall 
assist  him  in  the  performance  of  his  public  services  " ; 
six  hundred  dollars  more  to  another  of  his  chiefs, 
"  in  consideration  of  past  services  and  faithfulness  " ; 
and  Lawyer  signed  —  "  with  fifty  other  chiefs  and 
head-men,  twenty  of  whom  were  parties  to  the  treaty 
of  1855,"  records  the  Commissioner. 

Fifty-eight  chiefs  and  headmen  had  signed  the 
original  treaty  eight  years  before;  only  twenty  of 
these  fifty-eight  signed  the  new  treaty.  Now,  where 
were  the  missing  thirty-eight  who  did  not  sign? 
And  again,  whence  arose  thirty  new  chiefs  and  head- 
men in  so  short  a  time,  to  sign  the  new  treaty? 

This  is  not  the  only  time  that,  while  a  treaty 
waited,  chiefs  and  head-men  were  made  to  order  to 
meet  the  demand  for  signers. 

With  these  fifty  signatures  the  treaty  was  declared 
to  be  the  expression  of  a  majority  of  the  Nez  Perce 
nation,  and  all  outside  tribes  were  given  one  year 
in  which  to  come  within  the  limits  of  the  new 
reservation.  It  is  impossible  to  perceive  either  hon- 
esty or  justice  in  thus  getting  a  favored  portion  of 
an  Indian  nation  to  sign  away  the  possessions  of 
outside  tribes,  who  were  holding  their  native  valleys 
under  express  agreement  with  their  Great  Father  in 
Washington.  A  few  of  the  outside  Indians  bowed 
to  the  inevitable,  and  removed  to  the  reserve,  but 
the  majority  did  not;  Joseph,  always  tenacious  of 

89 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  Indian  right  to  lead  the  Indian  life,  refused  to 
move;  he  continued  in  possession  of  the  Wallowa 
Valley. 

The  Nez  Perce  nation  became  divided  against 
itself;  two  factions,  "treaty"  and  "non-treaty" 
Indians,  were  the  direct  result  of  the  new  treaty. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  their  reservation  life 
the  Nez  Perces  were  the  victims  of  more  than  the 
usual  amount  of  official  pilfering,  and  a  persistent 
reluctance  on  the  part  of  their  "  Great  Father  "  to 
fulfil  his  treaty  obligations  added  to  their  suspi- 
cion that  to  "  take  hold  of  hands  and  never  let  go  " 
might  mean  either  a  token  of  perpetual  peace  or  of 
perpetual  bondage. 

To  such  limits  was  the  robbery  carried  that  in 
1862  —  the  year  before  the  new  treaty  —  the  entire 
force  of  the  agency  was  discharged,  and  the  super- 
intendent made  a  personal  investigation.  This  is 
what  he  found: 

"  I  sought  in  vain  to  find  the  first  foot  of  land 
fenced  or  broken  by  him  and  his  employees ;  and  the 
only  product  of  the  agricultural  department  that  I 
could  discover  consisted  of  some  three  tons  of  oats 
in  the  straw,  piled  up  within  a  rude,  uncovered  en- 
closure of  rails,  to  raise  which  must  have  cost  the 
Government  more  than  seven  thousand  dollars.  Even 
this  property  was  barely  saved  by  the  present  agent 
from  the  hands  of  the  departing  employees,  who 
claimed  it  as  the  result  of  their  private  labor. 

90 


The  Nez  Perces 

"  As  I  witnessed  the  withdrawal  from  this  meagre 
pile  of  the  rations  for  my  horse,  I  could  hardly  fail  to 
sigh  to  think  that  every  movement  of  his  jaws  devoured 
at  least  a  dollar's  worth  of  governmental  bounty. 

"  The  chiefs  whom  I  met  in  council  complained 
that  the  employees  heretofore  sent  to  instruct  them 
under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  had  taken  their 
women  to  live  with,  and  had  done  little  else;  and 
they  seemed  desirous  to  know  if  that  was  the 
method  proposed  by  the  Government  to  carry  out 
the  stipulations  of  the  treaty. 

"  Several  of  these  discharged  employees  were  loung- 
ing around  the  agency  waiting  for  their  female  In- 
dian companions  to  receive  their  proportion  of  the 
annuity  goods." 

But  it  makes  little  difference  to  the  Indian  whether 
the  agent  gets  his  goods  and  confiscates  them,  or  the 
goods  are  not  furnished  at  all  by  the  Government. 
Such  fine  reasoning  as  "  insufficient  appropriations  " 
or  "  delays  incident  to  change  of  administration  "  is 
not  within  the  scope  of  the  Indian  mind.  He  knows 
only  that  he  does  not  receive  his  just  dues,  and  with 
simple  Indian  directness  he  refuses  to  entertain  ex- 
cuses in  lieu  of  annuities.  In  1866  the  Nez  Perces 
were  still  dreaming  of  the  alluring  benefits  which 
were  to  come  to  them  under  their  second  treaty: 

"  The  Indians  of  southern  Idaho  are  fast  fading 
away,  and  as  we  occupy  their  root  grounds,  con- 
verting them  into  fields  and  pastures,  we  must  either 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

protect  them  or  leave  them  to  the  destroying  ele- 
ments now  surrounding  them,  the  result  of  which 
cannot  be  doubtful.  A  humane  magnanimity  dictates 
their  protection  and  speedy  separation  from  those 
evils  to  which  they  are  exposed  by  intermingling 
with  white  men. 

"  Prominent  among  the  tribes  of  northern  Idaho 
stand  the  Nez  Perces,  a  majority  of  whom  boast  that 
they  have  ever  been  the  faithful  friend  of  the  white 
man.  But  few  over  half  of  the  entire  tribes  of  the 
Nez  Perces  are  under  treaty.  The  fidelity  of  those 
under  treaty,  even  under  the  most  discouraging  cir- 
cumstances, must  commend  itself  to  the  favorable 
consideration  of  the  department.  The  influx  of  the 
white  population  into  their  country  has  subjected 
them  to  all  the  evils  arising  from  an  association 
with  bad  white  men,  and,  as  might  well  be  expected, 
the  effect  upon  the  Indians  has  been  most  unhappy. 
The  non-payment  of  their  annuities  has  had  its  natu- 
ral effect  upon  the  minds  of  some  of  those  under 
treaty;  but  their  confiding  kead  chief  (Lawyer)  re- 
mains unmoved,  and  on  all  occasions  is  found  the 
faithful  apologist  for  any  failure  of  the  Government." 

This  is  the  view  of  the  Governor  of  Idaho.  The 
Nez  Perces  agent  expresses  himself  freely: 

"  One  great  cause  of  the  disagreement  and  split 
among  this  people  is  the  non-payment  of  their  an- 
nuities. The  non-treaty  side  throw  it  up  to  the 
other  side  that  now  they  have  sold  their  country 

92 


The  Nez  Perces 

and  have  got  nothing  but  promises  which  are  being 
received  from  year  to  year,  that  their  annuities  will 
never  be  here.  They  use  it,  too,  with  such  good 
effect  that  every  day  their  side  is  increasing  in 
strength.  Many  of  the  young  men,  and  some  of 
the  old  ones  of  the  Lawyer  side,  say  it  is  true,  and 
that  they  had  rather  be  with  the  non-treaty  side  and 
not  expect  anything  than  to  remain  with  the  Lawyer 
side  and  have,  every  few  days,  these  promises  re- 
peated to  them.  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  awarded 
Lawyer,  the  head  chief  of  the  nation,  for  his  en- 
deavors to  keep  peace  between  his  people  and  the 
whites,  and  to  account  to  them  for  the  want  of 
good  faith  on  the  part  of  the  Government.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  uphill  work  for  an  agent  to  manage  his 
Indians  well  when  he  refers  them  to  certain  treaty 
stipulations  reserved  as  their  part,  when  they  can 
retort  by  saying  that  but  few  of  the  stipulations 
on  the  part  of  the  Government  are  kept." 

Very  little  good  the  combined  protest  did.  In 
the  following  year  the  Governor  says: 

"  Their  grievances  are  urged  with  such  earnest- 
ness, that  even  '  Lawyer,'  who  has  always  been  our 
apologist,  has  in  a  measure  abandoned  his  pacific 
policy,  and  asks  boldly  that  we  do  them  justice. 
From  all  the  facts  obtained,  it  is  apparent  that  had 
the  Government  been  prompt  and  just  in  its  dealings 
with  them,  it  would  have  given  much  power  and 
prestige  to  the  treaty  party  of  the  Nez  Perces,  and 

93 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

[have]  had  a  powerful  influence  in  drawing  the  non- 
treaty  party  into  the  covenant.  Even  now  it  may 
not  be  too  late,  but  if  neglected,  war  may  be  reason- 
ably expected.  Should  the  Nez  Perces  strike  a  blow, 
all  over  our  Territory  and  around  our  boundaries 
will  blaze  the  signal  fires  and  gleam  the  tomahawks 
of  the  savages." 

Even  the  prospect  of  war  failed  to  arouse  Wash- 
ington to  a  sense  of  its  treaty  obligations.  Another 
change  of  administration,  and  a  new  agent  —  a  second 
lieutenant  in  the  army  —  records  his  first  experience 
as  a  purveyor  of  promises : 

"  I  arrived  here  on  the  I4th  of  July,  1869,  and 
assumed  the  direction  of  affairs  on  the  I5th.  The 
Indians  on  hearing  of  my  arrival  commenced  com- 
ing to  see  me.  Among  the  first  that  came  was 
*  Lawyer,'  the  head  chief,  who  seemed  to  be  well 
pleased  that  '  General  Grant  had  sent  him  a  soldier 
chief,'  and  in  the  course  of  the  conversation  he  told 
me  that  some  of  his  people  had  gone  to  the  buffalo 
country.  Here  I  first  learned  that  there  was  a 
'  non-treaty  party  '  among  these  Indians.  The  lead- 
ing men  from  all  parts  of  the  reservation  came  to 
see  me,  and  they,  both  treaty  and  non-treaty  Indians, 
all  of  them,  seemed  to  be  well  pleased  that  General 
Grant  had  sent  them  a  '  soldier  chief.' 

"  My  first  object  was  to  find  out  the  cause  of  the 
disaffection  of  this  roaming  band  of  Indians  known 
as  non-treaty  Indians.  I  found  that  at  first  there 

94 


The  Nez  Perces 

were  but  comparatively  few  of  them,  and  they  said 
at  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  that  the  Government 
never  meant  to  fulfil  its  stipulations;  that  the  white 
man  had  no  good  heart,  etc. 

"  And  as  time  passed  on  these  assertions  were 
verified  to  some  extent  by  the  failure  on  the  part 
of  the  Government  to  build  the  churches,  school- 
houses,  mills  at  Kamiah,  and  fence  and  plough  their 
lands,  as  provided  by  treaties  of  1859  and  1863, 
until  many  of  the  Indians  of  the  treaty  side  are 
beginning  to  feel  sore  on  account  of  such  failure. 
These  arguments  are  continually  being  used  by  the 
non-treaty  party,  and  are  having  great  weight,  being 
supported  as  they  are  by  the  stubborn  facts.  .  .  . 

"  These  Indians  boast  with  great  pride  that  they 
as  a  nation  never  shed  a  white  man's  blood,  but  the 
Government  has,  through  its  agents,  been  so  dilatory 
in  fulfilling  its  treaty  stipulations,  and  agents  have 
promised  so  often  that  all  the  stipulations  of  the 
treaties  would  soon  be  fulfilled,  and  to  so  little  pur- 
pose, that  these  Indians  do  not  believe  that  an  agent 
can  or  will  tell  the  truth. 

"  I  told  them  at  Kamiah  that  I  was  going  to  put 
up  their  mill  for  them.  They  said  in  reply  that  other 
agents  had  told  them  so  many  years  ago." 

Little  wonder  that  the  non-treaty  faction  flour- 
ished. The  wonder  is  that  the  treaty  element  con- 
tinued to  live  on  expectations.  Every  action  —  and 
every  inaction  —  of  the  Government  served  to  con- 

95 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

firm  and  strengthen  Joseph  in  his  love  of  the  inde- 
pendent life,  in  his  contempt  for  civilization  as  it 
was  presented  to  him,  in  his  fine  scorn  for  the  Great 
Father's  promises.  He  was  forced  by  the  logic  of 
events  to  the  conviction  that  there  was  no  sincerity 
in  the  white  man's  covenants.  For  ten  years  after 
the  attempt  to  extinguish  their  title  to  the  Wallowa 
Valley  Joseph  and  his  people  maintained  their  sep- 
arate existence,  filling  the  valley  with  their  herds  of 
horses  and  cattle  during  the  summer,  and  retiring 
each  fall  to  the  more  sheltered  Imnaha  Valley  for 
the  winter,  or  to  the  buffalo  country  east  of  the 
mountains  for  the  annual  hunt.  During  all  these 
years,  and  as  old  age  came  upon  him,  Joseph  im- 
pressed upon  his  two  sons,  In-me-tuja-latk  and  Olli- 
cut,  the  importance  of  the  trust  that  would  devolve 
upon  them  to  hold  for  their  people  the  land  which 
he  had  saved,  "  not  for  myself,  but  for  my  children." 
Upon  his  death  In-me-tuja-latk  assumed  the  name  of 
Joseph,  and  succeeded  to  the  chieftainship.  Young 
Joseph  was  then  a  few  years  past  thirty;  in  tem- 
perament, in  ability,  in  the  strength  of  his  conviction 
that  the  Indian  way  was  the  only  way  for  the  Indian, 
he  was  the  counterpart  of  his  father.  A  description 
of  this  man,  who  was  to  be  the  central  figure  in  the 
tragic  events  which  cost  this  tribe  its  native  valley, 
appears  in  an  official  report: 

"  He  is  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  manhood ;   six  feet 
tall,  straight,  well  formed,  and  muscular;    his  fore- 

96 


IN-ME-TUJA-LATK= ECHOING   THUNDER.     CHIEF  JOSEPH 
(1878) 


The  Nez  PerceS 

head  is  broad,  his  perceptive  faculties  large,  his  head 
well  formed,  his  voice  musical  and  sympathetic,  and 
his  expression  usually  calm  and  sedate;  when  ani- 
mated, marked  and  magnetic.  His  younger  brother 
[Ollicut]  in  whose  ability  he  evidently  confides  — 
putting  him  forward  much  of  the  time  as  his  advo- 
cate —  is  two  inches  taller  than  himself,  equally  well 
formed,  quite  as  animated,  and  perhaps  more  im- 
passioned in  speech,  though  possibly  inferior  in 
judgment." 

Joseph  came  into  the  chieftainship  at  a  critical 
period  in  the  history  of  his  tribe.  In  the  early 
seventies  white  settlers  became  so  numerous  and 
persistent  in  their  claims  to  rich  portions  of  the 
Wallowa  Valley,  and  pressed  upon  Washington  their 
desire  for  the  expulsion  of  the  Indians  with  such 
political  force,  that  in  1873  a  commission  was  sent 
into  the  valley  to  arrange  with  the  Indians  for  their 
removal.  But,  contrary  to  the  expectations  of  the 
jVociferous  Few  who  had  brought  about  the  agita- 
tion, the  Commission  decided  in  favor  of  the  Indian 
claim  to  the  Wallowa  Valley;  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  approved  their  finding,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior  endorsed  it,  and  the  President  of  the 
United  States  made  this  order: 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  June  16,  1873. 
"  It  is  hereby  ordered  that  the  tract  of  country 
above  described  be  withheld  from  entry  and  settle- 
7  97 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

ment  as  public  lands,  and  that  the  same  be  set  apart 
as  a  reservation  for  the  roaming  Nez  Perce  Indians, 
as  recommended  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs. 

"  U.  S.  GRANT." 

This  executive  order  not  only  confirmed  to  Joseph 
and  his  band  the  Wallowa  Valley  as  their  reserva- 
tion; it  implied  the  endorsement  by  the  highest 
authority  of  their  contention  that  the  valley  had 
not  been  ceded  under  the  treaty  of  1863,  and  defi- 
nitely settled  the  question  of  their  title  to  the  coun- 
try that  was  theirs  before  the  advent  of  white  men. 
But  the  order  aroused  the  land-seizing  population 
to  a  pitch  of  wild  indignation;  that  the  President 
should  affirm  the  Indian  right  to  Indian  land  so 
nearly  wrested  from  him  by  encroachment  and  tres- 
pass was  deemed  an  outrage  without  precedent. 
Meetings  were  held,  representatives  in  Congress  were 
appealed  to,  and  by  every  possible  means  they  gave 
vent  to  their  displeasure.  Despite  the  protests  of 
the  Indians  and  in  direct  violation  of  the  Presi- 
dent's order,  the  settlers  remained  in  the  valley, 
while  Joseph  and  his  people  struggled  to  hold  their 
ground  with  their  herds  of  cattle  and  horses.  Those 
were  troublous  days  for  Joseph,  but  knowing  full 
well  that  any  retaliation  for  outrages  committed 
upon  the  Indians  would  be  hailed  by  the  settlers  as 
a  welcome  opportunity  to  annihilate  his  people,  he 

98 


The  Nez  Perces 

succeeded  in  maintaining  peace  and  a  fair  propor- 
tion of  his  rights  in  the  valley. 

In  matters  vitally  affecting  the  American  Indian, 
there  has  yet  to  be  recorded  a  single  instance 
where  the  vote-seeking  Government  officials  have 
long  withstood  the  demands  of  the  Vociferous  Few. 
The  Governor  of  Oregon  made  a  strong  personal 
appeal  to  Washington  for  the  expulsion  of  the  In- 
dians; inspired  by  the  delegation  from  Oregon, 
Congress  refused  to  appropriate  the  necessary  funds 
for  the  reimbursement  and  removal  of  settlers,  thus 
blocking  the  executive  order.  And  the  great  Gov- 
ernment meekly,  humbly  bowed  before  the  new  state 
of  Oregon.  Within  two  years  of  the  first  order, 
and  wholly  without  notice  to  Joseph,  a  second  order 
came  from  the  President's  hand: 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  June  10,  1875. 
"  It  is  hereby  ordered  that  the  order  dated  June  16, 
1873,  withdrawing  from  sale  and  settlement  and  set- 
ting apart  the  Wallowa  Valley,  in  Oregon,  described 
as  follows:  ...  as  an  Indian  reservation,  is  hereby 
revoked  and  annulled,  and  the  said  described  tract  of 
country  is  hereby  restored  to  the  public  domain. 

"  U.  S.  GRANT." 

By  this  stroke  of  the  pen  the  Indians  became 
trespassers  in  their  own  country.  It  became  the  duty 
of  the  agent  to  acquaint  them  with  this  latest  change 
in  their  relation  to  the  Government: 

99 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  When  I  received  information  from  the  Depart- 
ment to  the  effect  that  the  Wallowa  Valley  had  been 
opened  to  settlers,  I  sent  for  '  Joseph,'  and  upon  his 
arrival  informed  him  of  the  same.  At  the  first  in- 
terview he  was  inclined  to  be  ugly,  and  returned  to 
his  camp  very  much  dissatisfied  with  the  action  of 
the  Government.  In  the  course  of  a  week  he  came 
back  and  talked  more  reasonably.  To  guard  against 
any  trouble  that  might  arise,  I  requested  General 
O.  O.  Howard,  commander  Department  Columbia, 
to  station  troops  in  the  valley  during  the  fishing 
season,  which  request  was  complied  with.  I  think 
the  question  of  the  Wallowa  Valley  ought  to  be 
definitely  settled.  The  Indians  go  there  with  large 
bands  of  horses,  from  which  springs  nearly  all  the 
trouble  between  the  Indians  and  settlers,  the  latter 
having  large  herds  of  stock  in  the  valley  also." 

This  occupation  by  the  soldiery  marked  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end;  but  Joseph  steadfastly  refused 
to  vacate  the  Wallowa  Valley.  A  year  passed ;  then 
a  special  commission  was  appointed  to  proceed  to 
the  Nez  Perce  country  and  labor  with  the  redoubt- 
able Joseph.  They  came,  they  saw,  but  they  did 
not  conquer: 

"  A  few  moments  before  the  appointed  hour  the 
head  of  his  well  mounted  column  was  seen  from  the 
agency,  turning  a  point  in  the  road.  With  military 
precision  and  order  it  massed  itself  in  front  of,  but 
at  considerable  distance  from,  the  church.  As  he 

ICO 


The  Nez  Perces 

entered  the  church  with  his  band  it  was  evident  that 
their  ranks  were  considerably  swelled  by  the  addi- 
tion of  other  prominent  non-treaty  Indians,  as  also 
by  some  malcontents  among  those  who  acknowledge 
themselves  bound  by  the  treaties.  The  commission 
occupied  the  platform  of  the  church.  Joseph  and  his 
band,  sixty  or  seventy  in  number  (including  mal- 
contents), after  an  exchange  of  salutations  by  him- 
self and  a  few  of  his  headmen  with  the  commission, 
took  seats  upon  our  left,  the  treaty-Indians  filling  the 
right  and  centre  of  the  house. 

"  Brief  personal  introductions  by  General  Howard 
followed,  who  also  made  to  Joseph  a  plain  and  con- 
cise statement  of  the  peaceful  errands  and  objects  of 
the  commission. 

"  From  the  first  it  was  apparent  that  Joseph  was 
in  no  haste.  Never  was  the  policy  of  masterly  in- 
activity more  fully  inaugurated.  He  answered  every 
salutation,  compliment,  and  expression  of  good  will, 
in  kind,  and  duplicated  the  quantity.  An  alertness 
and  dexterity  in  intellectual  fencing  was  exhibited 
by  him  that  was  quite  remarkable.  .  .  . 

"  When,  in  answer  to  suggestions  and  general  in- 
quiry, no  grievance  was  stated,  the  commission  plied 
him  with  questions  touching  his  occasional  occupation 
of  Wallowa  Valley,  and  the  irritations  and  disturb- 
ances consequent  thereon  with  the  white  settlers,  he 
answered,  he  had  not  come  to  talk  about  land,  and 
added  that  these  white  settlers  had  first  informed 

101 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

him  of  the  appointment  of  this  commission,  ex- 
pressing their  belief  that  on  its  assembling  all  these 
troubles  would  be  settled,  and  they  (the  whites) 
would  retire  from  the  valley.  In  this,  and  the  fol- 
lowing interviews,  which  were  long  drawn  out,  one 
of  them  continuing  into  the  night,  Joseph  maintained 
his  right  to  Wallowa  Valley,  including,  as  we  under- 
stood, the  tract  of  country  set  apart  as  a  reservation 
for  him  and  his  band,  by  Executive  order  dated 
June  16,  1873.  .  ._•. , 

"  The  earth  was  his  mother.  He  was  made  of 
the  earth  and  grew  up  on  its  bosom.  The  earth,  as 
his  mother  and  nurse,  was  sacred  to  his  affections, 
too  sacred  to  be  valued  by  or  sold  for  silver  and 
gold.  He  could  not  consent  to  sever  his  affections 
from  the  land  that  bore  him.  He  was  content  to 
live  upon  such  fruits  as  the  '  Creative  Power '  placed 
within  and  upon  it,  and  unwilling  to  barter  these 
and  his  free  habits  away  for  the  new  modes  of  life 
proposed  by  us.  Moreover,  the  earth  carried  chief- 
tainship (which  the  interpreter  explained  to  mean 
law,  authority,  or  control),  and  therefore  to  part 
with  the  earth  would  be  to  part  with  himself  or 
with  his  self-control.  He  asked  nothing  of  the 
President.  He  was  able  to  take  care  of  himself. 
He  did  not  desire  Wallowa  Valley  as  a  reservation, 
for  that  would  subject  him  and  his  band  to  the  will 
of  and  dependence  on  another,  and  to  laws  not  of 
their  own  making.  He  was  disposed  to  live  peace- 

102 


The  Nez  Perces 

ably.  He  and  his  band  had  suffered  wrong  rather 
than  do  wrong.  One  of  their  number  was  wickedly 
slain  by  a  white  man  during  the  last  summer,  but 
he  would  not  avenge  his  death.  But,  unavenged  by 
him,  the  voice  of  that  brother's  blood,  sanctifying  the 
ground,  would  call  the  dust  of  their  fathers  back  to 
life,  to  people  the  land  in  protest  of  this  great  wrong. 

"  The  serious  and  feeling  manner  in  which  he 
uttered  these  sentiments  was  impressive.  He  was 
admonished  that  in  taking  this  position  he  placed 
himself  in  antagonism  to  the  President,  whose  gov- 
ernment extended  from  ocean  to  ocean;  that  if  he 
held  to  this  position,  sooner  or  later  there  would 
come  an  issue,  and  when  it  came,  as  the  weaker 
party  he  and  his  band  would  go  to  the  wall;  that 
the  President  was  not  disposed  to  deprive  him  of 
any  just  right  or  govern  him  by  his  individual  will, 
but  merely  subject  him  to  the  same  just  and  equal 
laws  by  which  he  himself  as  well  as  all  his  people 
were  ruled." 

Day  after  day  the  commissioners  met  with  the 
Nez  Perces;  their  report  is  rilled  with  the  pictur- 
esque Indian  speeches : 

"  What  I  tell  you  is  the  truth,"  declares  Joseph. 
"  It  is  not  for  us  to  trade  off  the  land  that  is  not 
traded  off;  and,  as  I  said  before,  it  is  not  marked 
and  should  be  so  left.  It  is  a  cause  of  great  grief 
and  trouble  to  us.  When  there  is  no  cause  there  is 
no  reason  to  be  troubled.  When  we  heard  the  whites 

103 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

say  that  they  came  to  settle  there  by  authority  of  a 
Government  officer,  our  hearts  were  sick.  At  that 
time  the  whites  were  very  troublesome.  I  said  to 
them,  '  My  friends,  don't  do  that  way ;  be  quiet ; 
we  can't  get  along  that  way.'  At  that  time  I  wrote 
to  Washington.  It  has  been  yearly  for  some  time 
that  I  have  sent  word  to  Washington.  I  think  a 
great  deal  of  my  country.  I  cannot  part  with  it. 
At  that  the  whites  became  angry,  and  told  me  that 
it  was  not  my  country.  You  know  that  our  horses 
do  not  graze  around  by  our  thoughts.  I  asked  the 
whites  if  I  ever  called  them  to  my  country.  For 
what  purpose  did  you  come  to  my  home?  They 
have  been  very  troublesome  for  these  years.  There 
the  whites  killed  one  of  our  number.  We  told  them 
we  could  not  commit  a  wrong  on  good  land.  For 
the  purpose  of  carrying  their  point  one  of  them 
lied.  I  admit  my  heart  was  aroused.  .  .  . 

"  I  did  not  expect  to  be  talked  to  again  about  my 
country  by  the  whites.  I  will  withhold  my  country 
from  the  whites,  nor  will  I  let  them  take  it  from 
me.  We  are  not  to  be  trampled  upon  and  our  rights 
taken  from  us.  The  right  to  the  land  was  ours  be- 
fore the  whites  came  among  us;  white  men  set  such 
authority  aside.  If  that  course  were  adopted  neither 
would  have  chiefs  —  neither  would  have  rest.  It 
ought  to  fill  you  with  fear.  Wrong  has  been  done 
us.  We  will  not  shed  blood.  Perhaps  a  law  will 
be  found  applicable  to  the  case.  Law  is  not  without 

104 


The  Nez  Perces 

eyes;    hence,   friends,   listen;    we  will  hold  to  our 
chieftainship." 

Another  adjournment,  and  another  day  of  Indian 
oratory;  Joseph  persists  in  his  attachment  to  the 
land  of  his  fathers: 

"  That  which  I  have  great  affection  for,  I  have 
no  reason  or  wish  to  dispose  of;  if  I  did,  where 
would  I  be?  The  earth  and  myself  are  of  one  mind. 
The  measure  of  the  land  and  the  measure  of  our 
bodies  are  the  same.  Say  to  us,  if  you  can  say  it, 
that  you  were  sent  by  the  Creative  Power  to  talk 
to  us.  Perhaps  you  think  the  Creator  sent  you  here 
to  dispose  of  us  as  you  see  fit.  If  I  thought  you 
were  sent  by  the  Creator  I  might  be  induced  to 
think  you  had  a  right  to  dispose  of  me.  Do  not 
misunderstand  me,  but  understand  me  fully  with 
reference  to  my  affection  for  the  land.  I  never  said 
the  land  was  mine  to  do  with  it  as  I  chose.  The  one 
who  has  the  right  to  dispose  of  it  is  the  one  who 
has  created  it.  I  claim  a  right  to  live  on  my  land, 
and  accord  you  the  privilege  to  live  on  yours." 

Suggestive  questions  met  with  ready  answers: 

"  MR.  JEROME.  Is  there  any  other  place  where 
you  would  like  to  go? 

"  YOUNG  JOSEPH.  I  see  no  place  but  the  Wallowa 
Valley.  It  is  my  home.  Everything  grows  there  in 
the  earth.  I  do  not  think  so  much  of  the  fish. 

"  MR.  JEROME.  Have  n't  you  a  stronger  affection 
for  peace  than  you  have  for  the  land? 

105 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  YOUNG  JOSEPH.  I  think  with  reference  to  the 
land.  I  look  upon  the  land,  made  as  it  was, 
with  pleasure.  It  was  made  for  us,  with  all  its 
natural  advantages.  I  grew  up  on  it,  and  took  it 
as  it  was  given  to  me.  As  it  was  created,  it  was 
finished  with  power.  There  is  nothing  should  su- 
persede it.  There  is  nothing  which  can  outstrip  it. 
It  is  clothed  with  fruitfulness.  In  it  are  riches 
given  me  by  my  ancestors,  and  from  that  time  up 
to  the  present  I  have  loved  the  land,  and  was  thank- 
ful that  it  had  been  given  me.  I  don't  wish  to  be 
understood  as  talking  about  the  Lapwai,  but  the 
Wallowa.  I  have  set  my  foot  down,  and  have  gone 
as  far  as  I  intend  to  go.  I  have  already  shown  to 
you  my  mind  about  the  country  over  there,  and  you 
know  what  I  think  as  well  as  I  do. 

"  MR.  JEROME.  What  shall  we  say  to  the  Presi- 
dent when  we  go  back? 

"  YOUNG  JOSEPH.  All  I  have  to  say  is  that  I 
love  my  country." 

Another  still  more  suggestive  question  from  Gen- 
eral Howard :  "  Suppose  several  thousand  men  should 
come  from  Oregon  with  arms,  what  would  you  do  ?  " 

Within  a  year  the  troops  came  upon  them  from 
Oregon,  with  General  Howard  at  their  head.  How 
prophetic ! 

Is  there  anything  of  the  traditional  Indian  ven- 
geance in  this? 

"  When  I  learned  they  had  killed  one  of  my 
106 


The  Nez  Perces 

people,  it  clothed  my  heart  with  fear  and  trouble. 
My  heart  was  darkened.  I  was  heart-sick.  I  looked 
for  relief  as  out  of  the  question.  Nothing  would 
bring  back  the  dead.  I  told  them  this.  I  thought 
when  I  heard  a  commission  was  coming  here  we 
could  settle  this  thing  and  interchange  ideas  with 
good  effect.  My  travelling  around  in  my  own  coun- 
try used  to  be  unmolested;  I  went  in  happiness  and 
peace.  The  killing  of  that  Indian  caused  me  to  feel 
that  darkness  pervaded  my  heart.  I  thought,  when 
I  heard  of  this  commission,  perhaps  something  will 
be  said  in  the  council  that  will  in  a  measure  heal  my 
heart.  When  I  heard  the  whites  had  killed  the  In- 
dian, I  thought  perhaps  they  had  not  been  taught 
the  law.  By  the  whites  causing  the  trouble  they 
were  brought  up  to  justice  by  the  law.  With  refer- 
ence to  the  body  of  the  white  man  who  committed 
the  deed  I  have  made  up  my  mind.  In  whatsoever 
manner  I  may  think  concerning  the  murderer  you 
will  hear  of  as  coming  from  me;  I  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  to  let  him  escape  and  enjoy  health, 
and  not  take  his  life  for  the  one  he  took.  I  am 
speaking  as  though  I  spoke  to  the  man  himself.  I 
do  not  want  anything  in  payment  for  the  deed  he 
committed.  I  pronounce  the  sentence  that  he  shall 
live.  I  spoke  to  the  murderer  and  told  him  I  thought 
a  great  deal  of  the  land  on  which  he  had  shed  the 
blood  of  one  of  my  people.  When  I  saw  all  the 
settlers  take  the  murderer's  part,  though  they  spoke 

107 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

of  bringing  him  to  trial,  I  told  them  there  was  no 
law  in  favor  of  murder.  I  could  see  they  were  all 
in  favor  of  the  murderer,  so  I  told  them  to  leave 
the  country.  I  told  them  it  was  of  great  impor- 
tance. You  see  one  of  our  bodies  lying  dead.  I  am 
not  talking  idly  to  you.  I  cannot  leave  that  country 
and  go  elsewhere.  .  .  . 

"  When  the  whites  did  not  live  in  the  Wallowa,  I 
grew  up  there;  you  see  my  gray  hairs  now.  I  have 
travelled  all  its  trails.  Then  there  were  no  whites 
or  fences.  I  have  heard  what  you  have  said.  I 
think  you  can  reprimand  your  people  so  that  they 
will  do  better.  I  have  stock  ranging  perhaps  the 
whole  length  of  the  creek.  That  stock  I  have 
traded  for.  I  have  been  listening  to  the  whites  for 
perhaps  twenty  years.  I  have  said  nothing  in  this 
line.  My  children  have  shown  you  friendship,  and 
you  have  set  aside  that  friendship.  That  much  I 
show  up  to  you." 

Pressed  for  an  explanation  of  his  frequent  mi- 
grations from  the  valley,  Joseph  gives  this  unique 
justification : 

"  Joseph  said :  There  is  much  snow  there.  In 
severe  weather  we  go  to  Imnaha.  There  is  good 
hunting  there.  .  .  .  This  one  place  of  living  is  the 
same  as  you  whites  have  among  yourselves.  When 
you  were  born,  you  looked  around  and  found  you 
lived  in  houses.  You  grew  up  to  be  large  men.  At 
any  time  you  wished  to  go  from  any  point  to  an- 

108 


The  Nez  Perces 

other,  you  went.  After  making  such  journey,  per- 
haps you  came  back  to  a  father.  I  grew  up  the 
same  way.  Whenever  my  mind  was  made  up  to 
travel,  I  went.  When  I  got  to  be  quite  a  lad,  I 
was  clothed  with  wisdom.  My  eyes  were  opened. 
I  did  see.  I  saw  tracks  going  in  all  directions.  I 
grew  up  seeing  the  trail  as  far  as  the  buffalo  coun- 
try, and  saw  that  my  seniors  had  followed  it.  As 
large  as  the  earth  is,  it  serves  as  a  house  to  live 
in.  Seeing  as  I  said,  I  concluded  the  earth  was 
made  to  live  in  as  well  as  to  travel  on.  I  saw  in 
what  kind  of  houses  you  lived.  I  approve  of  them 
for  your  use.  Whenever  I  see  houses,  I  know 
whites  have  been  there;  but  it  is  not  for  me  to 
demolish  them.  I  have  already  shown  to  you  that 
the  land  is  as  a  bed  for  me.  If  we  leave  it,  per- 
haps for  years,  we  expect  it  to  be  ready  to  receive 
us  when  we  come  back." 

But  the  labors  of  the  commissioners  were  in  vain; 
Joseph  made  this  final  declaration: 

"  You  say  come  on  the  reservation.  I  say  I  don't 
come  on  the  reservation.  As  for  the  Wallowa  Val- 
ley, I  will  settle  there  in  my  own  way  and  at  my  own 
pleasure.  That  is  the  way  my  heart  is,  and  if  you 
ask  each  of  my  people  you  will  find  their  hearts  the 
same." 

The  scene  of  activity  now  shifts  to  the  War 
Department.  After  much  correspondence  between 
Washington  and  the  military  of  the  Northwest,  the 

109 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

early  spring  was  determined  upon  for  the  final  move 
upon  Joseph.  In  February  the  Nez  Perce  agent  sent 
a  delegation  of  "  treaty  "  Indians  to  the  Wallowa 
Valley  with  an  untimatum  to  the  refractory  chief. 
This  is  Joseph's  reply: 

"  I  have  been  talking  to  the  whites  many  years 
about  the  land  in  question,  and  it  is  strange  they 
cannot  understand  me.  The  country  they  claim  be- 
longed to  my  father,  and  when  he  died  it  was  given 
to  me  and  my  people,  and  I  will  not  leave  it  until 
I  am  compelled  to." 

By  the  ist  of  May  a  strong  military  force,  in 
command  of  General  O.  O.  Howard,  was  approach- 
ing the  Nez  Perce  country.  The  General  met  Joseph 
and  other  non-treaty  chiefs  for  a  final  parley: 

"  Friday,  the  4th  of  May,  the  Indians  came  to- 
gether again  very  much  reinforced,  part  of  White 
Bird's  Indians  and  some  others  having  come  in. 
They  go  through  a  similar  preliminary  ceremonial 
around  the  garrison.  .  .  . 

"  Joseph  simply  introduced  White  Bird  and  his 
people,  stating  that  they  had  not  seen  me  before, 
and  that  he  wished  them  to  understand  what  was 
said.  White  Bird  sat  demurely  in  front  of  me,  kept 
his  hat  on,  and  steadily  covered  his  face  with  a  large 
eagle's  wing.  .  .  . 

"  White  Bird's  Indians,  having  come  a  long  dis- 
tance, were  evidently  very  tired.  I  thought  it  was 
best  to  allow  them  to  assemble  again,  with  a  view 

no 


The  Nez  Perces 

of  keeping  them  on  the  reservation  and  gathering 
in  others  still,  and  let  them  have  time  to  talk  over 
what  we  had  told  them  until  I  could  get  my  troops 
in  position;  ...  so  when  Joseph  asked  for  a  post- 
ponement till  the  morrow,  I  said :  *  Let  the  Indians 
take  time;  let  them  wait  till  Monday  morning; 
meanwhile  they  can  talk  among  themselves.'  This 
gave  evident  satisfaction,  and  Monday  morning  at 
nine  o'clock  was  fixed  for  the  next  meeting." 

And  the  Indians  gladly  welcomed  the  three  days' 
delay,  while  the  astute  General  gathered  his  forces 
about  them. 

But  there  was  no  common  ground  for  a  parley. 
The  Indians  were  inclined  to  discuss  the  old  ques- 
tion of  their  rights  to  the  valley,  while  General 
Howard  insisted  on  an  immediate  compliance  with 
the  order  to  remove  from  Wallowa  to  the  reserve. 
One  old  Indian,  Too-hul-hul-sote,  seems  to  have 
especially  irritated  the  General : 

*  The  law  is,  you  must  come  to  the  reservation. 
The  law  is  made  in  Washington;  we  don't  make 
it.'  Other  positive  instructions  are  repeated.  Too- 
hul-hul-sote  answers,  *  We  never  have  made  any 
trade.  Part  of  the  Indians  gave  up  their  land;  I 
never  did.  The  earth  is  part  of  my  body,  and  I 
never  gave  up  the  earth.' 

"  I  answer,  '  You  know  very  well  that  the  Gov- 
ernment has  set  apart  a  reservation  and  that  the 
Indians  must  go  on  it.  .  .  / 

in 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  White  Bird,  in  a  milder  manner,  said  he  agreed 
with  Too-hul-hul-sote.  He  said  if  he  had  been  taught 
from  early  years  to  be  governed  by  the  whites,  then 
he  would  be  governed  by  the  whites.  '  The  earth 
sustains  me.'  I  then  turned  to  the  old  man,  whom 
they  mean  to  keep  at  it,  and  say :  '  Then  you  do  not 
promise  to  comply  with  the  orders  ?  '  He  answers : 
'  So  long  as  the  earth  keeps  me,  I  want  to  be  left 
alone;  you  are  trifling  with  the  law  of  the  earth.' 
I  reply :  '  Our  old  friend  does  not  seem  to  under- 
stand that  the  question  is,  Will  the  Indians  come 
peaceably  on  the  reservation  or  do  they  want  me  to 
put  them  there  by  force  ? ' 

"  He  then  declares  again :  '  I  never  gave  the  In- 
dians authority  to  give  away  my  land.'  I  asked : 
'  Do  you  speak  for  yourself?  '  He  answered  fiercely: 
'  The  Indians  may  do  what  they  like,  but  I  am  not 
going  on  the  reservation.'  Speaking  as  sternly  as 
I  could,  I  said: 

"  '  That  bad  advice  is  what  you  give  the  Indians ; 
on  account  of  it  you  will  have  to  be  taken  to  the 
Indian  Territory.  Joseph  and  White  Bird  seem  to 
have  good  hearts,  but  yours  is  bad ;  I  will  send  you 
there  if  it  takes  years  and  years.  When  I  heard 
you  were  coming,  I  feared  you  would  make  trouble; 
you  say  you  are  not  a  medicine  man,  but  you  talk 
for  them.  The  Indians  can  see  no  good  while  you 
are  along;  you  advise  them  to  resist,  to  lose  all 
their  horses  and  cattle,  and  have  unending  trouble. 

112 


The  Nez  Perces 

Will  Joseph  and  White  Bird  and  Looking-glass  go 
with  me  to  look  after  the  land?  The  old  man  shall 
not  go;  he  must  stay  with  Captain  Perry.'  The 
Old  Dreamer  says :  '  Do  you  want  to  scare  me  with 
reference  to  my  body  ? '  I  then  said  I  would  leave 
his  body  with  Captain  Perry,  and  called  for  the 
captain  to  take  him  out  of  the  council. 

"  He  was  led  out  accordingly  and  kept  away  till 
the  council  broke  up." 

Too-hul-hul-sote  was  kept  in  confinement  five  days. 
This  summary  arrest  and  removal  of  their  spokes- 
man from  what  they  supposed  was  a  friendly  coun- 
cil brought  the  Indians  to  a  realization  of  the  utter 
hopelessness  of  their  cause;  sadly,  reluctantly  they 
yielded  to  the  removal.  The  chiefs  were  invited 
to  inspect  the  reservation  and  select  their  location; 
General  Howard  records  his  satisfaction  with  a 
stern  duty  well  done: 

"  Having  now  secured  the  object  named,  by  per- 
suasion, constraint,  and  such  a  gradual  encircling 
of  the  Indians  by  troops  as  to  render  resistance 
evidently  futile,  I  thought  my  own  instructions 
fulfilled. 

"  The  execution  of  further  details  I  leave  in  per- 
fect security  to  the  Indian  agent  and  Captain  Perry, 
whom  I  put  into  my  place  for  this  work." 

Constrained  as  was  their  compliance  with  the 
order,  the  Indians  proceeded  in  good  faith  to  gather 
up  their  goods,  collect  their  herds,  and  move  toward 
8  113 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  reservation.  Had  it  not  been  for  a  single  un- 
toward incident,  the  story  of  the  Nez  Perce  removal, 
like 'the  story  of  every  successful  Indian  removal, 
would  have  ended  with  their  silent  bending  to  the 
inevitable.  Some  friction  arose  between  the  settlers 
and  White  Bird's  Indians,  and  friction  with  Indians 
yielding  their  homes  to  superior  force  is  dangerous 
business  —  as  well  strike  a  match  in  a  powder-mill. 
There  is  a  story  that  the  white  settlers,  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  Indians'  movement  of  their  herds, 
endeavored  to  stampede  and  run  off  with  their 
horses  and  cattle  , —  an  act  which  the  exasperated 
Indians  summarily  avenged.  General  Howard  says 
in  his  report  to  the  War  Department :  "  After  ex- 
amination, it  seems  to  have  been  a  private  quarrel, 
according  to  Indian  story."  The  version  of  the  Nez 
Perce  agent  is  probably  true,  except  that  the  mo- 
tive is  lacking: 

"  They  agreed  to  move  on  the  reserve  by  a  cer- 
tain time,  had  selected  the  lands  upon  which  to 
locate,  but  on  the  very  day  that  they  were  to  go 
upon  the  lands  selected  —  all  having  left  their  old 
or  former  homes  and  moved  their  stock  and  fami- 
lies to  the  borders  of  the  reserve  —  a  party  of  six 
from  White  Bird's  band  commenced  the  murdering 
of  citizens  on  Salmon  River,  thus  bringing  on  an- 
other Indian  war." 

Indians,  even  Indians  grieving  over  real  or  fancied 
wrongs,  do  not  commit  indiscriminate  murder  with- 

114 


The  Nez  Perces 

out  some  immediate  inciting  cause;  what  that 
was,  the  official  records  do  not  disclose,  but  the 
Indians'  story  of  the  whites'  rapacity  remains  un- 
controverted. 

Among  Indians  in  a  less  inflammable  mood,  this 
act  of  a  few  vengeful  hotheads  need  not  have 
plunged  the  whole  tribe  into  war;  but  the  smoul- 
dering fire  of  discontent  needed  only  these  murders 
to  turn  instantly  the  whole  body  of  non-treaty  In- 
dians from  the  calm  persuasion  of  their  chiefs.  By 
the  acts  of  a  few,  all  were  compromised ;  "  the 
Indians  have  risen !  "  went  up  the  cry,  and  with  it 
ended  the  peaceful  removal  so  nearly  accomplished. 

The  outbreak  occurred  many  miles  east  of  the 
Wallowa  Valley;  neither  Joseph  nor  any  member 
of  his  band  were  concerned  in  it.  Yet  such  was 
the  instantaneous  effect  of  this  unhappy  incident  that 
to  have  opposed  the  common  cause  of  all  would 
have  been  little  short  of  traitorous ;  sides  were  taken 
in  a  day,  and  the  non-treaty  Indians  almost  to  a 
man  were  arrayed  with  their  chiefs  against  the 
military. 

Then  began  the  Nez  Perce  war.  "  The  enemy 
manifests  extraordinary  boldness,"  reports  General 
Howard,  "  planting  sharpshooters  at  available  points, 
making  charges  on  foot  and  on  horseback  with  all 
manner  of  savage  demonstrations."  After  a  few 
preliminary  skirmishes,  the  "  war "  developed  into 
a  pursuit  of  the  Nez  Perces  —  and  it  was  the  most 

"5 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

remarkable  campaign  in  the  annals  of  Indian  war- 
fare. Across  into  Montana,  over  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, down  through  the  Yellowstone  Park,  then 
northward  nearly  to  the  British  line,  Joseph,  with 
his  men,  women,  and  children,  led  General  Howard 
from  June  until  October  in  a  chase  of  thirteen 
hundred  miles.  Joseph  fought  only  when  compelled 
to.  In  the  Bitter  Root  Valley  he  traded  for  goods 
with  the  rapacious  storekeepers  who  were  traitorous 
enough  to  willingly  supply  his  wants.  One  mer- 
chant, however,  declined  to  aid  his  country's  ene- 
mies, and  closed  his  store  in  their  faces;  the  Indians 
could  easily  have  looted  the  place,  but  Joseph  was 
first  and  last  for  peace  if  it  could  be  accorded  him. 
His  mode  of  warfare  brought  him  this  tribute  in 
General  W.  T.  Sherman's  report  to  the  Secretary 
of  War: 

"  The  Indians  throughout  displayed  a  courage  and 
skill  that  elicited  universal  praise;  they  abstained 
from  scalping,  let  captive  women  go  free,  did  not 
commit  indiscriminate  murder  of  peaceful  families 
which  is  usual,  and  fought  with  almost  scientific 
skill,  using  advance  and  rear  guards,  skirmish-lines 
and  field-fortifications." 

That  flight  of  months  before  the  troops  was  one 
long  tragedy  for  Joseph  and  his  people.  If  it  taxed 
to  the  utmost  the  endurance  of  General  Howard's 
command,  what  must  it  have  been  for  the  Indians, 
encumbered  with  their  families?  Many  fell  by  the 

116 


The  Nez  Perces 

way  who  were  not  the  victims  of  their  pursuers' 
bullets;  many  women  and  children  of  Joseph's  band 
were  left  in  hastily  made  graves.  It  is  a  sad  truth 
that  desperate  men  among  the  fleeing  Indians  com- 
mitted a  number  of  robberies  and  murders  which 
could  not  be  considered  as  acts  of  war;  but  the 
dishonors  of  the  campaign  seem  to  weigh  against 
General  Howard's  Indian  allies.  "  See  these  women's 
bodies  disinterred  by  our  own  ferocious  Bannock 
scouts !  "  writes  General  Howard.  "  See  how  they 
pierce  and  dishonor  their  poor,  harmless  forms,  and 
carry  off  their  scalps!  Our  officers  sadly  look  upon 
the  scene,  and  then,  as  by  a  common  impulse,  deepen 
their  beds,  and  cover  them  with  earth."  ("Joseph 
Nez  Perce.") 

Notwithstanding  these  few  barbarities  committed 
on  both  sides,  the  campaign  was  singularly  free 
from  incidents  that  add  bitterness  to  the  inevitable 
horrors  of  Indian  war.  Brave  and  hardy  soldiers, 
doing  a  stern  duty  under  orders  from  their  Gov- 
ernment, pressed  to  the  utmost  a  band  of  some  six 
hundred  fleeing  men,  women,  and  children  who  could 
not  be  made  to  understand  why  the  country  of 
their  fathers  from  time  without  reckoning  should 
pass  to  the  white  man  "  by  right  of  discovery  and 
occupation."  Many  old  men  in  that  stricken  band 
had  been  with  Old  Joseph  when  he  said,  "  The  land 
on  the  other  side  of  the  line  is  what  we  gave  to 
the  Great  Father."  Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 

"7 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

simple  Indian  mind  cried  out,  "  Why  has  the  white 
man  crossed  the  line?" 

The  sad  story  of  the  American  Indian  is  told  in 
these,  "  the  law  of  nations  "  —  which  does  not  rec- 
ognize him,  and  that  other  law  not  made  by  men 
or  nations,  the  "  Survival  of  the  Fittest  "  —  which 
dooms  him. 

United  States  troops  all  along  the  line  of  flight 
were  called  out  to  intercept  the  Indians.  General 
Gibbon,  making  a  hasty  march  from  Helena  with 
about  two  hundred  men,  came  upon  Joseph  before 
he  had  reached  the  Yellowstone  Park,  drove  him  out 
of  his  camp  with  considerable  loss,  and  captured  his 
herd  of  ponies.  Without  ponies  the  Indians'  flight 
would  have  been  of  short  duration;  no  one  knew 
that  better  than  Joseph.  So,  gathering  his  scattered 
forces,  he  turned  upon  Gibbon,  routed  him  out  of 
the  same  camp,  recaptured  his  ponies  and  escaped, 
leaving  eighty-nine  Indians  dead  on  the  field.  Gib- 
bon himself  was  wounded  in  the  assault. 

But  fighting  with  women  and  children  on  the 
field  of  battle  was  not  to  the  liking  of  General 
Gibbon.  "  He  pointed  to  where  women,  during  the 
battle,  with  their  little  ones  in  their  arms,  had 
waded  into  the  deep  water  to  avoid  the  firing;  and 
told  me  how  it  touched  his  heart  when  two  or 
three  extended  their  babies  toward  him,  and  looked 
as  pleasant  and  wistful  as  they  could  for  his  pro- 
tection; this  was  while  the  balls  were  whistling 

118 


The  Nez  Perces 

through  the  willows  near  by."  ("Joseph  Nez 
Perce.") 

After  passing  through  the  Yellowstone  Park,  and 
along  the  borders  of  the  famous  Yellowstone  Lake, 
Joseph  turned  to  the  northward,  with  the  intention 
of  escaping  into  the  British  possessions.  By  this 
time  troops  were  being  hurried  to  the  scene  of  ac- 
tion from  all  parts  of  the  country;  even  far-off 
Georgia  sent  two  companies  across  the  continent. 
In  those  days,  before  the  United  States  Government 
had  conceived  its  mission  to  impress  Christian  civi- 
lization upon  foreign  peoples  by  means  of  the  mili- 
tary, its  army  was  so  insignificant  that  one  band 
of  runaway  Indians  served  to  draw  the  whole  avail- 
able force  into  the  field. 

Beset  with  foes  in  his  long  journey  to  the 
northward  across  Montana,  dodging  from  one  little 
"  army "  almost  into  the  clutches  of  some  other, 
Joseph  successfully  eluded  them  all  until  his  escape 
seemed  certain.  But  finally,  in  the  Bear  Paw  Moun- 
tains, within  one  day's  march  of  the  British  line, 
the  Indians  were  intercepted  by  a  force  in  com- 
mand of  Col.  Nelson  A.  Miles.  There  Joseph  made 
his  final  stand.  With  all  their  remaining  strength 
and  numbers  the  Indians  desperately  fought  their 
last  battle.  It  was  a  hopeless  fight  of  worn-out  men 
against  a  superior  force  of  comparatively  fresh  sol- 
diers. White  Bird  and  a  few  of  his  followers  es- 
caped through  the  lines  to  the  British  possessions, 

119 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

while  Joseph,  to  save  his  people  from  annihilation, 
surrendered  to  Colonel  Miles,  after  his  brother  Olli- 
cut,  five  other  chiefs,  and  many  warriors  had  been 
killed  in  the  battle. 

"  This  reply  of  Joseph's  was  taken  verbatim  on 
the  spot,"  says  General  Howard's  report : 

"  Tell  General  Howard  I  know  his  heart.  What 
he  told  me  before  I  have  in  my  heart.  I  am  tired 
of  fighting.  Our  chiefs  are  killed.  Looking  Glass 
is  dead.  Too-hul-hul-sote  is  dead.  The  old  men 
are  all  dead.  It  is  the  young  men  who  say  yes  or 
no.  He  who  led  on  the  young  men  is  dead.  It  is 
cold,  and  we  have  no  blankets.  The  little  children 
are  freezing  to  death.  My  people,  some  of  them, 
have  run  away  to  the  hills,  and  have  no  blankets, 
no  food;  no  one  knows  where  they  are,  perhaps 
freezing  to  death.  I  want  to  have  time  to  look  for 
my  children  and  see  how  many  of  them  I  can  find. 
Maybe  I  shall  find  them  among  the  dead.  Hear 
me,  my  chiefs.  I  am  tired;  my  heart  is  sick  and 
sad.  From  where  the  sun  now  stands  I  will  fight 
no  more  forever." 

Captives  at  last.  A  strange  tragedy,  this,  to  be 
enacted  on  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the 
patriots'  darkest  winter! 

1777,  1877;  a  liberty-loving  nation,  dwelling  at 
this  centennial  time  on  the  memories  of  its  own 
struggle  for  independence;  pointing  its  youth  to 
the  picture  of  Washington  and  his  men  at  Valley 

120 


The  Nez  Perces 

Forge,  —  freezing,  hungry,  and  ill-clothed,  yet  hold- 
ing out  that  they  might  rule  their  lives  as  they  saw 
fit;  might  have  dealt  generously  with  a  luckless 
people  brought  by  the  same  love  of  liberty  to  a 
similar  unhappy  predicament.  But  their  affliction 
was  only  beginning. 

It  was  the  intention  of  their  captors  to  send  the 
Indians  back  to  Idaho.  Joseph  never  ceased  to 
claim  that  the  one  condition  of  his  surrender  was 
that  he  be  taken  back  to  Idaho.  General  Howard 
states  in  his  report :  "  I  directed  Colonel  Miles  to 
keep  the  prisoners  till  next  spring,  it  being  too  late 
to  send  them  to  Idaho  by  direct  routes  this  fall,  and 
too  costly  by  steamer  and  rail."  But  no  sooner  did 
the  good  people  of  Idaho  hear  of  the  capture  and 
plans  for  the  return,  than  they  entered  a  most 
strenuous  protest;  Indians  once  removed  would 
never  return  if  they  could  prevent  it.  Once  more 
the  "  voice  of  the  people "  secured  the  Govern- 
ment's ear  and  set  up  the  murders  by  a  portion  of 
the  tribe  as  sufficient  reason  for  keeping  the  In- 
dians forever  outside  the  limits  of  Idaho.  As  usual, 
Washington  yielded  to  the  Vociferous  Few.  The 
protests  of  Joseph,  the  judgment  and  recommenda- 
tion of  General  Howard  and  Colonel  Miles  were  set 
aside,  and  the  Indians  were  ordered  to  that  "  grave- 
yard of  the  northern  Indian,"  the  Indian  Territory. 
It  was  done  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  conse- 
quences. The  Honorable  Commissioner  of  Indian 

121 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Affairs  had  said  in  his  report  to  the  Honorable 
Secretary  of  the  Interior,  no  more  than  three  months 
before  the  Nez  Perce  removal  took  place: 

"  Experience  has  demonstrated  the  impolicy  of 
sending  northern  Indians  to  the  Indian  Territory. 
To  go  no  farther  back  than  the  date  of  the  Pawnee 
removal,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  effect  of  a  radical 
change  of  climate  is  disastrous,  as  this  tribe  alone, 
in  the  first  two  years,  lost  by  death  over  800  out 
of  its  number  of  2376.  The  Northern  Cheyennes 
have  suffered  severely,  and  the  Poncas  who  were 
recently  removed  from  contact  with  the  unfriendly 
Sioux,  and  arrived  there  in  July  last,  have  already 
lost  36  by  death,  which,  by  an  ordinary  computa- 
tion, would  be  the  death  rate  for  the  entire  tribe  for 
a  period  of  four  years." 

Yet  these  Nez  Perces,  accustomed  to  the  high  alti- 
tude, the  cool  bracing  atmosphere  of  mountainous 
Idaho,  were  to  be  sent  to  the  hot  prairies  of  the 
Indian  Territory  with  the  full  approval  of  this  same 
Commissioner.  The  political  consideration  must  have 
been  great  to  have  compelled  this  fourth  sacrifice 
of  human  life. 

The  Indians  were  first  taken  to  Fort  Leavenworth, 
Kansas,  and  placed  in  camp  on  the  Missouri  River 
bottoms  for  the  winter.  The  change  from  Idaho  to 
Missouri  River  bottoms,  enough  in  itself  to  invite 
disaster,  was  aggravated  by  their  surroundings ;  says 
an  inspector,  "  Between  a  lagoon  and  the  river,  the 

122 


The  Nez  Perces 

worst  possible  place  that  could  have  been  selected; 
and  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  Indians  proved 
it."  Here  they  were  kept  until  well  into  the  fol- 
lowing summer :  "  One-half  could  be  said  to  be  sick, 
and  all  were  affected  by  the  poisonous  malaria  of 
the  camp."  In  the  middle  of  July  they  were  removed 
to  the  scorching  plains  of  the  Indian  Siberia.  Here 
these  mountain  Indians  went  down  like  moths  in  a 
flame.  Within  three  months  the  Commissioner  who 
had  recounted  the  disastrous  effects  of  the  climate 
on  the  Pawnees,  the  Cheyennes,  and  the  Poncas 
made  this  report : 

"  After  the  arrival  of  Joseph  and  his  band  in  the 
Indian  Territory,  the  bad  effect  of  their  location  at 
Fort  Leavenworth  manifested  itself  in  the  prostra- 
tion by  sickness  at  one  time  of  260  out  of  the  410, 
and  within  a  few  months  they  have  lost  by  death 
more  than  one  quarter  of  the  entire  number." 

The  death  rate  was  so  appalling  that  public  at- 
tention was  attracted;  criticisms  began  to  pour  in 
upon  the  Indian  service.  Indignant  people  demanded 
that  something  be  done,  and  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  made  a  personal  visit  to  the  tribe: 

"  Joseph  had  two  causes  of  dissatisfaction,  which 
he  presented  to  notice  in  plain,  unmistakable  terms. 
He  complained  that  his  surrender  to  General  Miles 
was  a  conditional  surrender,  with  a  distinct  promise 
that  he  should  go  back  to  Idaho  in  the  spring.  The 
other  complaint  was  that  the  land  selected  for  him 

123 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

on  the  Quapaw  reservation  was  not  fertile,  and 
that  water  was  exceedingly  scarce  on  it;  that  two 
wells  had  been  dug  to  a  depth  of  60  to  70  feet 
without  reaching  water;  and  that  he  did  not  like  the 
country." 

Then  the  Commissioner  set  out  with  Joseph  and 
an  interpreter  in  a  vain  search  for  some  spot  in  the 
Territory  to  Joseph's  liking.  He  continues : 

"  I  travelled  with  him  in  Kansas  and  the  Indian 
Territory  for  nearly  a  week  and  found  him  to  be 
one  of  the  most  gentlemanly  and  well-behaved  In- 
dians that  I  ever  met.  He  is  bright  and  intelligent, 
and  is  anxious  for  the  welfare  of  his  people." 

Joseph  never  lost  an  opportunity  to  assert  his  un- 
derstanding of  the  terms  of  surrender.  His  agent 
reports : 

"  Joseph  expresses  himself  as  very  much  opposed 
to  making  this  country  his  future  home,  dwelling 
particularly  on  what  he  claims  were  the  terms  of 
surrender  agreed  upon  between  himself  and  General 
Miles  at  Bear  Paw  Mountain,  according  to  which 
he  argues  he  was  to  be  returned  to  his  old  home." 

This  claim  of  Joseph,  so  often  repeated,  receives 
no  official  comment  in  the  records.  It  is  given  each 
time  simply  as  a  declaration  coming  from  Joseph, 
unaccompanied  by  so  much  as  a  statement  that  he 
is  mistaken.  To  get  at  the  facts,  the  author  ap- 
pealed for  information  to  the  best  possible  authority 
—  Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles.  With  characteristic  cour- 

124 


The  Nez  Perces 

tesy  the  General  supplied  this  clear  account  of  the 
surrender : 

"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  June  3,  1904. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  Your  inquiry  of  ist  received.  When 
Chief  Joseph  was  surrounded  and  held  for  five  days 
with  no  possible  chance  of  escape  he  asked  under  a 
flag  of  truce  what  would  be  done  with  him  in  case 
he  surrendered.  He  was  informed  that  so  far  as  I 
knew  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Government  to  send 
him  back  to  the  Idaho  reservation  and  require  him 
to  stay  there.  I  do  not  think  there  was  any  other 
purpose  or  design  on  the  part  of  the  authorities  at 
that  time,  and  I  have  always  believed  that  that 
should  have  been  done. 

The  sending  of  Joseph  and  the  Nez  Perces  to  the 
Indian  Territory,  where  a  large  percentage  of  them 
died  from  malaria,  was  an  after-consideration,  and 
in  my  opinion  a  serious  mistake.  The  location  of 
his  tribe,  however,  was  not  a  condition  of  his  sur- 
render, for  he  surrendered,  and  was  compelled  «to 
surrender,  by  force  of  arms. 

But,  in  my  opinion,  the  ends  of  justice  would 
have  been  reached  had  he  been  returned  at  once 
to  his  reservation;  and  justice  has  been  delayed  by 
his  being  forced  to  remain  in  another  part  of  the 
country. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"(Signed)  NELSON  A.  MILES." 

125 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

The  Indian  language  does  not  contain  qualifying 
clauses ;  the  Indian  mind  does  not  comprehend  them. 
It  is  easy  to  understand  how  Joseph  could  have  mis- 
taken the  General's  reply  that,  so  far  as  he  knew,  the 
Indians  were  to  be  returned  to  Idaho. 

Popular  indignation  was  pressing  hard  upon  the 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs;  and  the  righteous 
wrath  of  justice-loving  citizens  has  to  be  reckoned 
with  as  well  as  the  importunities  of  the  Vociferous 
Few. 

"  The  extinction  of  Joseph's  title,"  he  says,  "  to 
the  lands  he  held  in  Idaho  will  be  a  matter  of  great 
gain  to  the  white  settlers  in  that  vicinity,  and  a 
reasonable  compensation  should  be  made  to  him  for 
their  surrender.  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that 
Joseph  has  never  made  a  treaty  with  the  United 
States,  and  that  he  has  never  surrendered  to  the 
Government  the  lands  he  claimed  to  own  in  Idaho. 
On  that  account  he  should  be  liberally  treated  upon 
his  final  settlement  in  the  Indian  Territory." 

Passing  strange,  this  recognition  of  the  Indian 
title  after,  and  not  before,  the  Indian's  summary 
expulsion  from  his  country!  Possibly  it  was  com- 
pelled by  public  opinion ;  and  surely,  with  the  Indian 
country  gained,  Washington  could  safely  indulge  a 
conscience  which  at  an  earlier  stage  would  have  been 
fatal  to  its  plans.  The  Commissioner  continues  in 
the  same  strain: 

"  The  present  unhappy  condition  of  these  Indians 
126 


The  Nez  Perces 

appeals  to  the  sympathy  of  a  very  large  portion  of 
the  American  people.  I  had  occasion  in  my  last 
annual  report  to  say  that  '  Joseph  and  his  followers 
have  shown  themselves  to  be  brave  men  and  skilful 
soldiers,  who,  with  one  exception,  have  observed  the 
rules  of  civilized  warfare,  and  have  not  mutilated 
their  dead  enemies/  These  Indians  were  encroached 
upon  by  white  settlers  on  soil  they  believed  to  be 
their  own,  and  when  these  encroachments  became 
intolerable  they  were  compelled,  in  their  own  esti- 
mation, to  take  up  arms.  Joseph  now  says  that  the 
greatest  want  of  the  Indians  is  a  system  of  law  by 
which  controversies  between  Indians,  and  between 
Indians  and  white  men,  can  be  settled  without  ap- 
pealing to  physical  force.  He  says  that  the  want 
of  law  is  the  great  source  of  disorder  among  In- 
dians. They  understand  the  operation  of  laws,  and 
if  there  were  any  statutes  the  Indians  would  be 
perfectly  content  to  place  themselves  in  the  hands 
of  a  proper  tribunal,  and  would  not  take  the  right- 
ing of  their  wrongs  into  their  own  hands,  or  retali- 
ate, as  they  now  do,  without  the  law.  In  dealing 
with  such  people  it  is  the  duty,  and  I  think  it 
will  be  the  pleasure,  of  the  department  to  see 
that  the  fostering  hand  of  the  Government,  is 
extended  toward  them,  and  that  it  gives  them 
not  only  lands  on  which  to  live  and  implements 
of  agriculture,  but  also  wholesome  laws  for  their 
government." 

127 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

One  cannot  read  the  Indian  records  of  the  past 
fifty  years  without  being  impressed  by  the  persistent 
denial  to  the  reservation  Indian  of  civil  law,  or  of 
laws  necessary  to  take  the  place  of  the  tribal  con- 
trol which  he  was  compelled  to  surrender.  Year 
after  year  good  men  in  the  service  filled  the  record 
with  appeals  for  adequate  Indian  law,  but  every 
attempt  to  secure  congressional  action  was  effectu- 
ally blocked  by  the  interested  few  in  Congress. 

And  why?  For  no  other  reason  than  that  the 
reservation  Indian,  as  one  of  a  herd,  without  per- 
manency, without  organization  or  legal  recourse, 
lent  himself  more  readily  to  the  successive  removals 
which  were  compelled  by  successive  demands  for 
the  best  of  his  remaining  land.  Deny  this  as  they 
may,  or  seek  to  excuse  it  on  the  ground  of  the  In- 
dian's incompetence,  it  is  to  their  lasting  dishonor 
that  for  their  own  personal  gain  a  people  boasting 
the  equality  of  all  men  should  have  steadily  denied 
to  the  Indian  the  one  thing  by  which  he  might 
hope  to  come  into  an  advantageous  relation  with 
the  superior  race,  —  recognition  under  the  law. 
And  once  more,  here  is  the  deadly  parallel;  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  this  is  set  down  as 
first  in  the  arraignment  of  King  George: 

"  He  has  refused  his  assent  to  laws,  the  most 
wholesome  and  necessary  for  the  public  good" 

The  history  of  oppressed  peoples  is  much  the 
same  in  all  ages,  and  among  all  nations;  and  this 

128 


great    nation    may    well    join    in    Kipling's    suppli- 
cation : 

"Judge  of  the  Nations,  spare  us  yet, 
Lest  we  forget,  lest  we  forget !  " 

The  story  of  Joseph's  band  in  the  Indian  Territory 
is  told  in  successive  annual  reports: 

"  A  day  school  was  opened  in  February,  1880,  and 
has  been  very  successfully  run  under  the  care  of 
James  Reubens,  a  full-blood  Nez  Perce,  with  an 
average  daily  attendance  of  twenty. 

"  The  Nez  Perces  are  a  religious  people,  and  under 
the  intelligent  teachings  of  Mr.  Reubens  they  are 
strict  observers  of  the  Sabbath,  refusing  to  perform 
any  labor  whatever  upon  that  day.  Twice  upon  the 
Sabbath  they  meet  together,  and  listen  to  the  preach- 
ing of  Mr.  Reubens,  and  sing  hymns,  with  an  occa- 
sional prayer.  Their  services  are  conducted  with 
as  much  order  and  the  congregation  is  as  much  in- 
terested in  the  proceedings  as  any  body  of  white 
people  in  any  church  in  the  land." 

Again,  in  the  following  year: 

"  The  Nez  Perces,  located  at  Oakland,  comprise 
three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  souls,  and  I  am  sorry 
to  be  compelled  to  report  that  there  has  been  a  large 
amount  of  sickness  and  many  deaths  among  them 
during  the  last  year.  This  arises  from  the  fact  that 
they  have  not  become  acclimated,  and  are  to  a  great 
extent  compelled  to  live  in  tepees,  the  cloth  of  which 
9  129 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

has  become  so  rotten  from  long  wear  and  the  effects 
of  the  weather  as  to  be  no  longer  capable  of  keep- 
ing out  the  rain,  by  which  they  were  soaked  during 
the  last  spring.  The  tribe,  unless  something  is  done 
for  them,  will  soon  become  extinct.  Of  all  In- 
dians with  whom  I  have  become  acquainted,  they 
are  by  far  the  most  intelligent,  truthful,  and  truly 
religious.  .  .  . 

"  Love  of  country  and  home,  as  in  all  brave  people, 
is  very  largely  developed  in  this  tribe,  and  they  long 
for  the  mountains,  the  valleys,  the  streams,  and  the 
clear  springs  of  water  of  their  old  home.  .  .  . 

"  The  number  of  females  outnumbers  the  males 
by  more  than  one  hundred.  This  surplus  is  caused 
by  the  widows  whose  husbands  fell  during  the  war. 
These  poor  women  are  all  longing  to  return  to  Idaho, 
to  their  friends  and  relations.  I  would  suggest  the 
propriety  of  returning  them  to  their  old  homes,  where 
they  will  be  more  comfortable  than  they  are  at  pres- 
ent, and,  I  believe,  would  not  be  a  greater  expense 
to  the  department  than  they  are  here.  So  brave, 
good,  and  generous  a  people  deserve  well  of  their 
Government,  and  I  can  only  express  the  hope  that 
such  generous  action  will  be  taken  by  the  coming 
Congress  in  their  behalf  as  may  enable  the  depart- 
ment to  furnish  them  with  the  horses  and  imple- 
ments of  agriculture  that  they  so  much  need.  Such  a 
people  should  not  be  allowed  to  perish,  and  this  great 
Government  can  afford  to  be  generous  and  just." 

130 


The  Nez  Perces 

And  the  year  after: 

"  Filled  with  a  love  of  country  —  almost  wor- 
shipping the  high  mountains,  bright  flashing  streams, 
and  rich  fertile  valleys  of  Idaho  —  they  have  in- 
herited and  transmitted  to  their  children  a  name  for 
bravery,  for  truthfulness,  and  honor  of  which  they 
may  indeed  be  proud.  The  unfortunate  war  into 
which  they  were  driven  in  1877  with  the  United 
States  is  far  from  being  a  blot  on  their  escutcheon, 
and  all  brave,  high-minded  people  the  world  over 
will  honor  them  for  their  gallant  defence  of  their 
homes,  their  families,  and  their  hunting-ground. 
When  they  surrendered  to  superior  force  they  did 
it  in  the  most  solemn  manner  and  under  the  most 
solemn  promises  of  protection  and  a  return  to  their 
own  country.  That  that  promise  has  not  been  kept 
is  an  historical  fact,  and  never  has  been  explained. 
Might  never  made  right,  and  the  power  to  punish 
can  never  excuse  its  exercise  wrongfully.  As  the 
years  go  by  the  eyes  of  this  people  are  turned  to 
the  Northwest,  and  their  yearning  hearts  pulsate 
naught  but  Idaho.  Like  Inspector  Pollock,  I  can 
exclaim,  *  Of  all  men  in  the  world,  is  it  possible 
that  we  two  only  can  see  this  wrong ! ' 

The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  is  finally  con- 
strained to  recommend  their  return  to  Idaho: 

"  The  deep-rooted  love  for  the  '  old  home/  which 
is  so  conspicuous  among  them,  and  their  longing 
desire  to  leave  the  warm,  debilitating  climate  of  the 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Indian  Territory  for  the  more  healthy  and  invigorat- 
ing air  of  the  Idaho  Mountains,  can  never  be  eradi- 
cated, and  any  longer  delay,  with  the  hope  of  a  final 
contentment  on  their  part  with  their  present  situation, 
is,  in  my  judgment,  futile  and  unnecessary.  In  view 
of  all  the  facts,  I  am  constrained  to  believe  that  the 
remnant  of  this  tribe  should  be  returned  to  Idaho, 
if  possible,  early  next  spring." 

During  the  following  year,  by  permission  of  the 
Department,  "  twenty-nine  Nez  Perces,  mostly  the 
widows  and  orphans  of  those  killed  in  the  war," 
were  returned  to  the  reservation  in  Idaho,  but  Con- 
gress turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  plea  of  the  tribe. 
Their  story  continues  in  the  reports : 

"  These  Indians  are  in  some  respects  superior  to 
those  of  any  other  tribe  connected  with  the  agency. 
They  are  unusually  bright  and  intelligent;  nearly 
one-half  of  them  are  consistent  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church.  They  meet  regularly  for 
weekly  services  in  the  school-house,  and  so  far  as 
dress,  deportment,  and  propriety  of  conduct  are 
concerned  they  could  not  be  distinguished  from  an 
ordinary  white  congregation.  The  entire  band,  with 
perhaps  one  or  two  exceptions,  are  quiet,  peaceable, 
and  orderly  people.  They  receive  what  is  provided 
for  them  with  apparent  thankfulness,  ask  for  noth- 
ing more  and  give  no  trouble  whatever.  They  are 
extremely  anxious  to  return  to  their  own  country. 
They  regard  themselves  as  exiles.  The  climate  does 

132 


The  Nez  Perces 

not  seem  to  agree  with  them,  many  of  them  have 
died,  and  there  is  a  tinge  of  melancholy  in  their 
bearing  and  conversation  that  is  truly  pathetic.  I 
think  they  should  be  sent  back,  as  it  seems  clear  they 
will  never  take  root  and  prosper  in  this  locality." 

The  successive  annual  enumerations  of  the  Nez 
Perces  might  have  furnished  Congress  food  for  re- 
flection, had  it  taken  the  trouble  to  consult  the 
reports.  Four  hundred  and  ten  were  originally  taken 
to  the  Indian  Territory.  Then,  while  the  first  great 
epidemic  of  disease  was  taking  off  one  quarter  of 
their  number,  a  considerable  remnant  of  "  non- 
treaty  "  Nez  Perces  was  captured  in  Idaho  and 
brought  to  the  Territory,  thus  swelling  the  number 
of  survivors  to  391.  Then  follow  successively  the 
annual  counts:  370,  344,  328,  322,  282  (29  widows 
returned),  287,  and  finally,  after  seven  years  of  life 
in  the  Indian  Territory,  268.  At  this  rate  of  de- 
crease the  last  Nez  Perce  would  have  departed  for 
the  happy  hunting-ground  within  twenty  years. 

But  philanthropic  persons  were  impressed  by  this 
steady  reduction  of  the  tribe,  if  the  Indian  bureau 
was  not,  and  in  this  seventh  year  nothing  less  than 
a  thoroughly  aroused  public  opinion,  pointedly  ex- 
pressed, compelled  the  return  of  these  Indians  to  the 
Northwest.  To  the  Northwest,  but  not  all  to  their 
people  in  Idaho;  another  element  had  to  be  reck- 
oned with,  —  the  stern  opposition  of  the  Idaho  set- 
tlers. The  Indian  bureau,  with  no  policy  except  to 

133 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

please,  with  its  ear  to  the  ground,  listening  to  the 
divided  clamor  of  the  people,  met  this  divided  sen- 
timent most  curiously  by  dividing  the  Indians,  re- 
storing less  than  half  to  the  Nez  Perce  reservation, 
while  the  others,  including  Joseph  and  his  more  im- 
mediate following,  were  sent  to  an  Indian  reserva- 
tion in  northeastern  Washington  to  continue  their 
exile. 

All  history  acquits  Joseph  and  his  band  in  the 
Wallowa  Valley  of  the  murders  which  decided  the 
"  non-treaty  "  Indians  for  war.  Nevertheless,  Joseph 
had  led  the  combined  forces  in  their  hopeless  struggle ; 
and  afterward  it  was  Joseph's  voice  that  was  raised 
in  continual  protest  against  the  extinction  of  his 
people.  So,  in  the  selection  of  a  scapegoat  to  offer 
up  to  the  good  people  of  Idaho,  the  lot  naturally  fell 
to  Joseph.  It  was  the  irony  of  fate  that  he  who 
had  mainly  accomplished  the  restoration  of  his  people 
was  not  to  participate  in  it.  And  again,  the  irony 
of  fate  that  fifteen  of  White  Bird's  band  —  the  band 
concerned  in  the  murders  —  should  at  this  same  time 
have  been  received  back  from  their  retreat  in  British 
territory  and  given  good  land  in  the  home  reserva- 
tion of  the  Nez  Perces. 

The  restoration  of  the  favored  portion  to  their 
own  tribe  is  reported  by  the  Nez  Perce  agent: 

"  One  hundred  and  eighteen  Nez  Perces  of  Joseph's 
band  reached  this  agency  June  i,  1885,  were  kindly 
received,  and  have  gone  out  among  the  tribe.  After 

134 


The  Nez  Perces 

an  absence  of  eight  years  they  return  very  much' 
broken  in  spirit.  The  lesson  is  a  good  one  and 
furnishes  profitable  study  for  the  more  restless  of 
the  tribe  who  are  not  disposed  to  settle  down  and 
enter  upon  civilized  pursuits.  They  seem  inclined 
to  profit  by  experience.  Some  have  already  taken 
up  lands  and  are  fencing  the  same,  while  others  will 
follow  next  spring." 

There,  as  the  story  goes,  "  they  lived  happily  ever 
after." 

And  from  Colville  agency  in  Washington  comes 
this  tirade: 

"  Last  June  a  remnant  of  Joseph's  band  was 
brought  from  the  Indian  Territory,  numbering  150, 
and  placed  upon  this  reserve  —  taken  from  a  coun- 
try where  they  had  already  become  acclimated,  where 
they  had  their  well-fenced  fields,  their  bands  of  cattle 
and  horses,  their  children  at  school,  and  in  fact  pro- 
gressing finely,  rationed  by  the  Government  as  well, 
and  on  account  of  the  sickly  sentiment  expressed  in 
the  East  towards  them  removed  to  Idaho  and  Wash- 
ington Territories,  against  the  wishes  of  the  people 
of  these  territories,  whose  relatives  were  slain  by 
this  band,  whose  outrages  and  atrocities  will  last  in 
the  minds  of  these  settlers  as  long  as  they  have 
being.  It  is  said  that  they  have  been  removed  back 
to  this  country  by  the  Government  at  their  own 
request,  and  that  in  a  great  measure  they  will  be 
expected  to  care  for  themselves  on  account  of  lack 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

of  sufficient  appropriations.  What  can  they  do  for 
the  next  year  until  they  can  harvest  a  crop?  Joseph 
says :  '  We  have  nothing.  My  people  cannot  and  will 
not  starve,  and  if  we  are  not  fed  we  will  go  and 
find  it.'  Why  was  this  not  thought  of  before  they 
came  here?  My  estimates  for  food  for  them  were 
cut  down  and  they  were  placed  on  short  rations 
until  they  appealed  to  the  military,  and  have  since 
been  fed.  I  earnestly  recommend  that  Congress 
provide  sufficiently  for  their  wants  early  in  the 
session." 

This  reflects  the  sentiment  of  the  gentle  settler. 
What  are  the  facts  of  history  to  him! 

With  this  final  disposition  of  Joseph's  band  the 
Indian  spirit  seems  to  have  been  broken.  Departing 
hope  left  behind  a  listless  indifference.  Indian  agents 
came,  and  Indian  agents  went,  each  wondering  at 
their  settled  inaction.  This  report,  after  five  years, 
is  much  like  those  from  the  Indian  Territory: 

"Joseph's  band  of  Nez  Perces  are  more  or  less 
unsettled  and  of  a  restless  character;  they  appear 
to  be  greatly  dissatisfied  at  times  with  their  location. 
In  my  opinion  the  causes  of  their  dissatisfaction  are 
just.  Owing  to  many  of  their  friends  and  relatives 
living  on  the  Nez  Perce  reservation  in  the  State 
of  Idaho,  an  effort  should  be  made  to  remove  them 
from  their  present  location  at  Nespilem  to  the  Nez 
Perce  Agency,  Idaho,  where  they  claim  land  would 
be  allotted  to  them,  as  is  being  done  with  their 

136 


The  Nez  Perces 

friends  and  relatives  of  that  reservation.  I  have 
taken  particular  notice  of  the  fact  that  when  they 
receive  letters  from  their  relatives  living  on  the  Nez 
Perce  reservation  or  a  visit  from  their  friends  from 
that  reservation  they  appear  to  have  the  '  blues '  and 
at  once  express  a  strong  desire  to  return  to  their 
old  home.  I  am  thoroughly  satisfied  they  will  never 
be  content  to  remain  on  this  reservation,  no  matter 
how  well  they  may  be  treated  by  the  Government." 

Did  ever  the  Government  heed  an  Indian  appeal 
for  the  sake  of  the  Indians  alone?  Public  clamor 
had  been  stilled  by  Joseph's  removal  to  the  North- 
west, and  far-off  Nespilem  best  suited  the  Govern- 
ment as  the  final  location  for  Joseph's  band. 

The  Indian  comprehends  civilization  only  as  it 
comes  within  range  of  his  vision.  He  takes  it  as 
he  sees  it.  What  had  Joseph  seen  in  the  white 
man's  civilization?  In  his  earlier  years,  the  many 
broken  promises  of  the  Government ;  white  encroach- 
ment and  aggression;  the  strong  hand  of  the  mili- 
tary; the  violation  of  what  he  held  to  be  a  sacred 
promise,  then  seven  years  of  slow  death;  and  now, 
another  land  of  exile,  with  the  heritage  from  Old 
Joseph,  the  Wallowa  Valley,  forever  lost  to  his 
people.  Why  should  Joseph  meekly  bend  to  a  sys- 
tem which  had  made  of  his  tribe  an  unhappy 
people?  What  was  there  worth  striving  for  in  a 
civilization  so  full  of  injustice  toward  his  race? 

Back,  back  to  the  Indian  way,  said  Joseph;   back 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

to  the  tepee,  and  to  the  blanket;  back  to  the  Indian 
traditions,  and  to  the  simple  Indian  notion  of  jus- 
tice; back  to  the  Indian  life  in  search  of  lost  happi- 
ness! The  story  of  the  American  Indian  reservation 
contains  many  a  tale  of  Indian  retrogression,  but 
none  more  marked  than  that  of  Joseph's  band.  Every 
reservation  can  show  its  quota  of  old-time  Indians 
carried  over  from  the  old  Indian  life  into  the  semi- 
captivity  of  the  present  day,  —  unprogressive  always, 
frowning  their  impotent  protest  as  they  recall  the 
happier  hunting  days,  —  not  a  grand,  but  a  sad  army 
of  old  warriors  who  failed  to  win  in  the  fight  for 
liberty  and  country. 

And  so  the  older  Indians  in  Joseph's  band  idly 
dream  of  the  good  old  days  in  the  Wallowa,  while 
the  young  men  go  uncontrolled ;  there  are  none  of  the 
activities  and  incentives  of  the  real  Indian  life ;  there 
are  all  of  the  white  man's  vices  to  fill  their  place. 

Fifteen  years  of  this  life  pass,  and  Joseph  feels 
old  age  coming  upon  him.  Then  he  dreams  an 
impossible  dream.  It  is  that  he  shall  take  his  people 
back  to  the  Wallowa  Valley  —  that  he  may  die  in 
the  land  of  his  fathers. 

Did  ever  an  exiled  Indian  more  blindly  reckon  with- 
out the  white  possessors  of  his  old  hunting-ground? 
No  Indian  petition  to  his  Great  Father  in  Washington 
could  prevail  against  such  a  report  as  this: 

"  The  subject  of  Joseph's  transfer  to  the  Wallowa 
Valley  in  Oregon  has  been  discussed  at  length  among 

138 


The  Nez  Perces 

them  during  the  year  and  has  had  a  demoralizing 
effect  upon  them.  ...  A  liberal  Government  has 
treated  him  with  a  generosity  scarcely  having  a 
parallel,  and  his  entire  lack  of  appreciation  is  clearly 
shown  in  his  unblushing  audacity  in  asking  for 
more  liberal  assistance  in  being  transferred  to  an- 
other territory." 

"  Asking  for  more " !  Here  we  have  another 
Oliver  Twist.  The  agent  continues: 

"  It  is  true  that  the  Wallowa  Valley  is  the  birth- 
place of  Joseph  and  that  there  lie  the  bones  of  his 
forefathers,  and  he  no  doubt  entertains  many  kind 
and  pleasant  remembrances  of  his  younger  life.  Boy- 
hood with  its  sweet  memories  furnishes  food  for 
deep  reflection,  and  he  no  doubt  cherishes  the  thought 
of  some  day  returning,  but  in  my  opinion  by  his 
actions  in  after  years  he  has  forfeited  all  his  rights 
and  privileges  to  enjoy  the  blessings  of  a  peaceful 
and  happy  life  in  his  old  home.  .  .  .  His  reason  for 
a  transfer  from  his  present  home  is  purely  senti- 
mental, bolstered  up  by  a  personal  ambition.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  true  Joseph  fought  with  much  gallantry, 
but  when  finally  overcome  he  was  tendered  the  gen- 
erous hand  of  a  beneficent  Government.  In  my 
opinion  any  act,  its  ultimate  object  being  the  re- 
moval of  Joseph  and  his  followers  to  either  Idaho 
or  Oregon,  would  be  an  injudicious  one.  The  hor- 
rors of  long  ago  lie  at  his  threshold  and  are  plead- 
ing for  justice.  The  appalling  wrongs  done  by  him 

139 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

are  crying  from  the  blood-stained  soil  of  Idaho  for 
restitution.  Joseph's  life  would  be  jeopardized  should 
he  ever  return  for  a  permanent  residence  in  a  ter- 
ritory he  previously  occupied." 

Then  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  takes 
it  up: 

"  Last  March  Chief  Joseph  visited  this  city  and 
submitted  to  this  office  a  petition  to  be  allowed  to 
leave  his  present  location  on  the  Colville  reservation 
in  Washington  and  return  with  his  band  of  about 
150  Nez  Perces  to  Wallowa  Valley,  Oregon.  This, 
he  claimed,  was  the  home  of  his  ancestors  and  was 
his  own  home  until  he  and  his  people  were  removed 
from  Idaho  to  the  Indian  Territory  in  1877,  at  the 
close  of  the  Nez  Perce  war.  By  Department  refer- 
ence the  office  also  received  a  communication,  dated 
April  7,  1900,  from  Maj.  Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles, 
United  States  Army,  recommending  that  Joseph's 
request  be  granted." 

But  there  are  a-  hundred  objections,  according  to 
the  Commissioner.  The  Wallowa  Valley  contains 
four  prosperous  towns ;  Wallowa  Lake  "is  fast  be- 
coming a  favorite  summer  resort  " ;  the  land  is  worth 
"  from  $20  to  $75  per  acre  " ;  and,  mark  ye  well,  the 
Wallowa  Valley  contains  1,017  precious  votes!  This 
asset  is  set  forth  with  great  particularity  in  a  table 
arranged  by  precincts.  "  It  would  be  very  expensive 
to  secure  any  portion  of  Wallowa  Valley  upon  which 
to  locate  those  Indians."  He  concludes: 

140 


The  Nez  Perces 

"  While  a  majority  of  the  settlers  of  the  Wallowa 
Valley  retain  no  ill  will  against  the  Nez  Perces  for 
the  troubles  of  1877,  yet  there  are  some  whose  rela- 
tives were  ravished  and  killed  by  Indians  on  Salmon 
River  and  Camas  Prairie  during  that  outbreak  who 
vow  vengeance  against  all  members  of  the  band,  and 
more  particularly  against  Joseph,  and  many  of  the 
settlers  predict  that  should  the  Indians  be  returned 
to  this  valley  to  stay  permanently  Joseph  would  be 
assassinated  within  a  year." 

Here  again  is  the  threat  of  assassination  for  crimes 
that  he  never  committed.  During  all  these  years 
Joseph  had  lived  in  perfect  safety  within  easy  reach 
of  the  bereaved  settlers,  but  were  he  to  "  ever  re- 
turn for  a  permanent  residence  "  or,  "  to  stay  per- 
manently," in  other  words,  to  occupy  some  of  their 
precious  land,  then  their  gentle  grief  would  rise  to 
the  pitch  of  murder.  What  finely  balanced  sorrow 
this,  to  be  so  weighed  in  the  commercial  scale! 

It  was  an  impracticable,  impossible  thing,  this 
dream  of  a  homesick  Indian.  So  Joseph  returned 
to  his  people.  Four  years  more  of  idle  longing; 
then,  in  September,  1904,  Joseph  departed  for  the 
happy  hunting-ground,  where  treaties  are  not  made 
to  be  broken,  and  liberty  is  real. 

"  The  line  was  made  as  I  wanted  it;  not  for  me, 
but  my  children  that  will  follow  me;  there  is  where 
1  live,  and  there  is  where  I  want  to  leave  my  body. 

141 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

The  land  on  the  other  side  of  the  line  is  what  we 
gave  to  the  Great  Father." 

Wise  and  far-seeing  old  chieftain,  to  save  a  coun- 
try for  his  people!  Poor  Indian,  poor  fool,  to 
think  that  his  "  Great  Father  "  would  turn  back  the 
faithful  who  might  cross  the  line  set  down  in  the 
covenant ! 


142 


THE    REMOVAL   OF   THE   PONCAS 

"  I  see  you  all  here  to-day.  What  have  I  done  ?  I  am  brought 
here,  but  what  have  I  done  ?  I  don't  know.  It  seems  as  though  I 
have  n't  a  place  in  the  world,  no  place  to  go,  and  no  home  to  go  to." 
Chief  Standing  Bear. 

SPREAD  out  the  map  of  the  state  of  South 
Dakota;  begin  at  the  southeastern  corner, 
and  follow  up  the  Missouri  River  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Niobrara;  then  up  the  river  again, 
only  a  finger's  breadth,  to  Ponca  Creek.  If  the 
map  is  one  of  the  present  day,  the  name  of  Ponca 
will  attach  only  to  the  creek,  for  that  flows  on  for- 
ever; if  it  is  a  map  of  fifteen  years  ago,  a  small 
strip  of  land  between  Ponca  Creek  and  the  Niobrara 
River  may  bear  the  name  "  Ponca  Indian  Reserva- 
tion." If  so,  it  is  only  because  the  name  clings  to 
the  country  that  had  belonged  to  the  Ponca  Indians 
a  dozen  years  before. 

But  twenty-eight  years  ago,  and  one  hundred  years 
ago,  and  how  much  longer  ago  nobody  knows,  for 
the  white  man's  history  of  that  region  dates  no  far- 
ther back,  the  Ponca  Indians  dwelt  in  this  fertile 
country  of  wooded  valleys  and  upland  prairies,  a 
little  band  distinct  from  all  the  Indians  around.  Dur- 
ing all  those  years  they  maintained  their  country 

H3 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

against  the  repeated  incursions  of  the  powerful  Sioux 
on  the  north  with  a  vigor  and  tenacity  born  of  the 
Indian  love  of  the  land  of  his  fathers. 

The  tide  of  white  occupation  that  flowed  to  the 
Northwest  during  the  early  fifties  was  temporarily 
checked  by  the  Sioux  on  the  upper  Mississippi,  who 
at  that  time  ruled  supreme  in  the  greater  part  of 
Minnesota  and  all  of  Dakota,  and  it  then  took  the 
course  of  least  resistance,  —  through  Iowa,  and  into 
eastern  Nebraska.  This  placed  the  Poncas  between 
the  hostile  Sioux  on  the  north  and  the  white  settle- 
ments on  the  south,  —  a  situation  well  calculated,  in 
the  ordinary  course  of  events,  to  hasten  the  clay  when 
Ponca  Creek  should  become  the  monument  of  the 
tribe.  But  this  circumstance  really  gave  the  Poncas 
a  new  lease  of  life.  They  met  the  advancing  whites 
with  the  hand  of  friendship,  while  the  high-strung 
Sioux  (with  the  exception  of  the  Yancton  and  one 
or  two  other  small  tribes  of  the  Sioux  nation)  re- 
sisted the  invasion  with  a  ferocity  that  dismayed 
even  the  reckless  frontiersmen.  The  keen  settlers 
were  quick  to  perceive  the  strategic  value  of  a 
friendly  tribe  between  themselves  and  the  powerful 
hostiles : 

"  I  cannot  speak  in  too  high  terms  of  the  uniform 
good  conduct  of  this  tribe.  While  many  other  In- 
dians have  been  fighting  the  Government,  and  mur- 
dering the  frontier  settlers,  this  tribe  and  the 
Yancton  Sioux  have  remained  faithful  to  their 

144 


WHITE  EAGLE,  HEAD  CHIEF  OF  THE  PONCAS 
('877) 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

treaty  stipulations,  and  stood  as  a  barrier  between 
the  hostile  Indian  and  the  white  settler  upon  the 
frontier." 

So,  under  shelter  of  this  gentle  band,  the  white 
man  rested  for  a  time  while  he  gathered  strength 
for  the  next  advance;  and  just  so  long  as  the 
Poncas  were  of  service  "  as  a  barrier  between  the 
hostile  Indian  and  the  white  settler,"  they  were 
treated  with  a  consideration  rarely  accorded  to  an 
Indian  people  so  insignificant  in  numbers,  so  un- 
assertive, and  possessed  of  so  good  a  country. 

But  in  course  of  time  the  inevitable  demand  for 
more  of  the  Indian  country  made  itself  felt  in 
Washington.  In  1858  a  treaty  was  entered  into 
with  the  Poncas,  by  the  terms  of  which  they  ceded 
much  of  their  territory  for  certain  considerations. 
Article  I.  recites  the  cession  of  territory  and  defines 
the  tract  that  is  guaranteed  to  them.  Then  follows: 

"  Article  II.  In  consideration  of  the  foregoing 
cession  and  relinquishment,  the  United  States  agree 
and  stipulate  as  follows,  viz. : 

"  First.  To  protect  the  Poncas  in  the  possession 
of  the  tract  of  land  reserved  for  their  future  homes, 
and  their  persons  and  property  thereon,  during  good 
behavior  on  their  part." 

The  second  stipulation  secured  to  the  Poncas  the 

payment   of   annuities   extending   over   a   period   of 

twenty-five  years.     Other  benefits,  such  as  schools, 

agency,   etc.,  were  provided  for.     The   Poncas  ap- 

10  145 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

pear  to  have  been  fairly  satisfied  with  the  treaty, 
except  that  their  ancient  burial-ground  was  not  in- 
cluded in  the  portion  left  to  them.  This  situation 
was  remedied  by  a  supplementary  treaty  in  1865, 
in  which  the  bounds  of  their  reservation  were  moved 
eastward  a  few  miles,  but  still  between,  and  at  the 
confluence  of,  the  Missouri  and  Niobrara  Rivers, 
where  the  tribe  had  been  discovered  sixty  odd  years 
before.  The  provisions  of  the  treaty  of  1858  were 
in  nowise  altered  or  disturbed.  The  record  shows 
what  generous  treatment  will  do  for  an  Indian 
tribe : 

"  The  ratification  of  the  supplementary  treaty  with 
the  tribe  has  greatly  encouraged  them.  It  not  only 
gives  to  them  their  old  burying-grounds,  but  gives 
them  a  tract  of  land  in  every  respect  much  better  for 
agricultural  purposes  than  their  former  location.  .  .  . 

"  In  agricultural  pursuits  the  members  of  this  tribe 
are  becoming  quite  proficient.  They  have  between 
500  and  600  acres  of  corn  and  other  vegetables, 
which  have  all  been  well  cultivated,  and  now  bid 
fair  to  yield  a  very  heavy  harvest." 

The  superintendent  reports  in  1866: 

"  PONCAS.  Since  my  acquaintance  with  this  tribe, 
for  a  period  of  upwards  of  five  years,  they  have 
remained  faithful  to  their  treaty  obligations  in  every 
particular,  under  circumstances  at  times  that  would 
have  palliated,  if  not  excused,  a  hostile  attitude  on 
their  part.  The  unprovoked  and  fiendish  attack  made 

146 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

by  a  party  of  drunken  United  States  soldiers  in  the 
fall  of  1863  upon  a  small  number  of  this  tribe,  while 
making  their  way  to  their  reservation  and  home  from 
a  friendly  visit  to  a  neighboring  tribe,  the  Omahas, 
by  which  seven  of  them  lost  their  lives  and  consider- 
able property,  would  have  been  considered,  in  a  civ- 
ilized community,  as  a  sufficient  cause  for  retaliating 
upon  their  murderers  or  their  relatives,  especially  if 
no  effort  was  made  to  indemnify  the  sufferers,  by 
the  Government  who  had  permitted  its  soldiers  to 
perpetrate  such  wrongs." 

Among  the  murdered  were  three  women,  a  little 
girl,  and  an  infant.  Their  supplementary  treaty 
provided  for  the  payment  of  damages  to  the  rela- 
tives of  the  deceased. 

Not  many  Indian  tribes  have  had  praise  so  heaped 
upon  them.  In  1869  their  number  is  given  as  768. 
The  agent  reports : 

'  The  Ponca  Indians  are  in  no  way  addicted  to 
drinking  or  gambling,  neither  will  they  spend  their 
money  for  whisky.  They  fully  understand  the  use 
of  money,  and  will  use  it  to  the  very  best  possible 
advantage.  I  am  fully  of  the  opinion  that  if  their 
annuity  were  paid  to  them  in  money,  they  would 
use  it  more  judiciously  for  their  comfort  than '  it 
could  possibly  be  used  for  them  in  the  purchase  of 
goods.  The  Poncas  are  the  most  peaceable  and 
law-abiding  of  any  of  the  tribes  of  Indians.  They 
are  warm  friends  of  the  whites,  and  truly  loyal  to 

147 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  Government,  and  they  fully  deserve  its  consid- 
eration and  protection." 

And  again: 

"  I  respectfully  submit  the  following  report  of  the 
Ponca  school.  The  school  was  opened  May  i,  1871, 
and  has  continued  to  the  present  date,  with  an  aver- 
age attendance  of  17  girls  and  33  boys.  The  chil- 
dren have  been  taught  in  the  common  English 
branches,  and  have  made  a  good  degree  of  progress, 
learning  quite  as  readily  as  white  children.  The 
parents  and  relations  of  the  scholars  exhibit  great 
interest  in  the  advancement  of  their  children,  and 
to  their  influence  is  to  be  attributed  the  regular 
attendance." 

The  next  year  three  schools  are  reported,  with  an 
average  attendance  of  seventy-seven. 

In  their  earnest  striving  after  the  white  man's 
way,  the  Poncas  were  constantly  beset  by  the  horde 
of  hostile  Indians  on  their  unprotected  border.  The 
records  mention  these  raids  at  different  times,  and 
in  1873  tne  untamed  Sioux  seem  to  have  been  more 
than  usually  active: 

"  But  far  worse  is  the  record  of  disasters  from 
frequent  engagements  with  hostile  Indians,  who 
come  in  force  to  fight  in  disproportionate  numbers 
these  poor,  ill-armed,  but  really  brave  Indians,  peace- 
ably imbibing  and  receiving  the  practical  lessons 
of  civilization,  and  proving  to  their  friends  their 
evident  desire  to  better  their  condition.  .  .  . 

148 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

"  The  Poncas,  having  thus  almost  unaided  kept 
the  enemy  at  bay  with  little  better  than  clubs  and 
bows  and  arrows,  and  fought  their  way  through  a 
season  of  greater  peril  from  hostile  Indians  than 
has  ever  before  been  encountered  by  them,  as  I  am 
informed,  ask  only  that  guns  of  long  range  and 
capacity  for  speedy  execution  be  put  into  their  hands ; 
and  this  application  I  would  earnestly  indorse  and 
urge  upon  the  attention  of  the  Department  as  an 
act  of  justice  to  these  brave  men,  who  are  strug- 
gling upward  to  the  light,  and  if  protected  in  their 
persons  and  property,  and  given  such  efficient  aid 
as  their  rate  of  progress  requires,  will,  as  the  evi- 
dences bear  me  out  in  saying,  make  a  record  that 
cannot  but  justify  the  benevolent  intentions  of  the 
Government,  and  prove  beyond  cavil  that  the  In- 
dian can  be  and  will  be  made  to  contribute  to  the 
general  welfare,  and  can  appreciate  while  he  shares 
the  benefits  and  blessings  he  has  with  others 
earned.  .  .  . 

"  We  have  a  few  plain  signals  with  the  bell  and 
the  voice,  which  all  well  understand,  and  which 
evoke  always  a  ready  response.  There  are  no 
cowards  in  camp,  except  it  be  the  young  women 
and  small  children;  the  old  women,  when  they  are 
not  permitted  to  fight,  urge  on  the  lagging  and 
make  most  excellent  camp  followers." 

Notwithstanding  the  solemn  treaty  pledge  "  To 
protect  the  Poncas  in  the  possession  of  the  tract  of 

149 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

land  reserved  for  their  future  homes,  and  their  per- 
sons and  property  thereon,"  this  band  of  hapless 
Indian  farmers  still  served  well  as  a  buffer  between 
the  hostile  Indian  and  the  white  settler.  At  this 
time  the  "  peace  policy "  —  or,  rather,  its  "  in- 
verted "  substitute  —  was  in  full  force ;  and  under 
the  acknowledged  interpretation  of  it,  "  that  the 
expenditures  of  the  Government  should  be  propor- 
tioned not  to  the  good  but  to  the  ill  desert  of  the 
several  tribes,"  the  Government  was  purchasing  an 
uncertain  immunity  from  attack  from  these  same 
hostiles  by  the  liberal  distribution  of  rations,  while 
they  followed  their  murderous  pastimes  in  the  Ponca 
country.  But  the  attacks  of  the  Sioux  became  much 
less  frequent  during  the  next  two  years,  and  with 
eighty  children  in  school,  a  church  of  two  hundred 
members,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  comfortable 
houses,  the  Poncas  were  much  like  any  white  com- 
munity of  peaceful  farmers.  Then  in  1876  came 
this  cheering  news  from  the  agency  of  the  Lower 
Brule  Sioux,  —  the  half-wild  Indians  who  had  so 
long  harassed  the  Poncas: 

"  During  the  year  the  chiefs  and  head-men  of  the 
tribe  asked  for  and  obtained  permission  to  visit  the 
Ponca  agency,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  treaty 
with  the  Poncas,  with  whom  they  have  been  on  un- 
friendly terms  for  years.  This  treaty  was  effected 
and  entered  into  in  the  best  of  faith." 

With  this  only  serious  difficulty  so  satisfactorily 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

adjusted,  there  was  no  apparent  reason  why  these 
Indian  farmers  should  not  make  rapid  advance  along 
the  "  white  man's  road." 

No  apparent  reason.  But  events  of  far-reaching 
importance  had  meanwhile  been  transpiring  in  the 
great  Sioux  Country  north  of  them,  —  events  of 
such  importance  that  a  tribe  so  insignificant  as  the 
Ponca,  had  it  only  known,  might  well  have  trembled 
for  its  future  at  the  hands  of  a  Government  whose 
avowed  policy  was  to  bestow  its  favors  on  the  power- 
ful and  hostile  Indians  in  the  interest  of  peace. 

Away  to  the  Northwest  stretched  the  great  Sioux 
reservation,  from  the  Missouri  River  on  the  east 
to  the  western  line  of  Dakota.  The  territory  em- 
braced was  as  large  as  the  State  of  New  York,  and 
fifty  thousand  Sioux  drew  rations  from  the  various 
Government  agencies  upon  it.  The  appropriations 
for  these  Indians  were  about  two  million  dollars 
annually,  —  an  amount  ridiculously  in  excess  of 
treaty  stipulations,  but  no  more  than  sufficient  to 
prevent  serious  hostilities.  In  the  extreme  western 
part  of  this  great  reservation  lay  the  Black  Hills, 
with  their  millions  of  treasure  still  uncovered.  Ex- 
plorations made  in  the  early  seventies  disclosed  the 
presence  of  gold;  in  1874  a  military  expedition  was 
sent  into  the  Hills  to  explore  the  country,  and  in 
the  following  year  a  commission  endeavored  to  ob- 
tain from  the  Indians  a  cession  of  that  portion  of 
their  country  —  but  the  attempt  ended  in  failure. 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

But  the  cry  of  gold  had  gone  up,  and  the  white 
man's  progress  was  not  to  be  stayed  by  an  Indian 
refusal.  The  horde  of  gold-seekers  came  up  from 
the  Union  Pacific  railroad  and  the  overland  wagon 
routes  on  the  south,  as  far  as  the  southern  line  of 
the  Sioux  reservation.  And  there  they  stopped. 
Directly  in  this  natural  gateway  to  the  Black  Hills 
were  some  fourteen  thousand  Sioux,  under  Spotted 
Tail,  the  most  diplomatic  Indian  politician  of  his 
time,  and  Red  Cloud,  an  acknowledged  leader  in 
the  great  Sioux  nation. 

"  No  passing  through,"  said  they ;  "  until  another 
bargain  is  made  with  the  Great  Father,  this  is  In- 
dian country."  Then  the  cry  of  the  Vociferous  Few 
went  up  to  Washington,  —  the  old,  old  cry  for  In- 
dian removal,  —  and  again  the  Government  heard 
"  the  voice  of  the  people." 

The  Black  Hills  must  be  cleared  of  Indians;  so 
must  the  gateway  on  the  south.  But  how  propitiate 
the  untamed  Sioux? 

The  Indian  ring  sought  eagerly  for  some  especially 
favored  spot  for  the  powerful  chiefs,  Spotted  Tail 
and  Red  Cloud ;  something  to  serve  up  to  them  as 
a  token  of  kindly  regard. 

There,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  great  reserve, 
was  the  land  of  the  Poncas,  —  a  prize  for  any  In- 
dian chief.  And  why  not?  One  hundred  and  fifty 
houses,  five  hundred  acres  of  growing  crops,  —  just 
the  place  to  teach  the  astute  Spotted  Tail,  or  Red 

152 


RED  CLOUD,  OGALALLA  Sioux  CHIEF 
(1876) 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

Cloud,  the  warrior,  the  gentle  arts  of  the  white 
man. 

The  Poncas?  Some  eight  hundred  of  them  — 
what  were  they  compared  to  the  recovery  of  the 
Black  Hills?  The  treaty?  Hang  the  treaty! 

And  the  public?  What  cared  the  Vociferous 
Few,  so  long  as  the  great  American  people  slept 
on  under  the  delusion  that  they  were  really  "  the 
people  "  ? 

The  records  show  a  most  careful  development  of 
the  scheme.  During  the  years  1875  and  1876  there 
appeared  four  executive  orders,  adding  to  the  Sioux 
reservation  on  the  north  a  considerable  area,  and 
on  the  east  —  along  the  east  bank  of  the  Missouri 
River  —  a  country  as  large  as  the  state  of  Massa- 
chusetts. These  immense  additions  on  the  east  fore- 
shadowed the  removal  of  the  Black  Hills  section  of 
the  Sioux  tribes  eastward  to  the  Missouri  River. 

The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  in  his  report 
for  1875  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  suggests 
the  removal  of  the  Poncas  to  the  Omaha  reserve, 
in  eastern  Nebraska,  ending  with  the  na'ive  remark 
that  "  The  country  where  they  now  are  would  make 
a  suitable  location  to  which  the  Red  Cloud  Sioux 
could  be  removed.  It  is  hoped  that  provision  may 
be  made  by  the  next  Congress  for  such  removal." 

All  details  having  been  perfected,  the  necessary 
legislation  for  the  whole  scheme  was  secured  at  one 
stroke.  On  August  15,  1876,  an  appropriation  for 

153 


.The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  Sioux  Indians  was  made  by  act  of  Congress, 
with  certain  provisions ;  among  them : 

"  Hereafter  there  shall  be  no  appropriation  made 
for  the  subsistence  of  said  Indians,  unless  they  shall 
first  agree  to  relinquish  all  right  and  claim  to  any 
country  outside  the  boundaries  of  the  permanent 
reservation  established  by  the  treaty  of  eighteen 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  for  said  Indians;  and  also 
so  much  of  their  said  permanent  reservation  as  lies 
west  of  the  one  hundred  and  third  meridian  of 
longitude." 

The  first  clause  is  aimed  at  their  hunting  privilege 
outside  their  permanent  reservation,  as  provided  for 
in  their  treaty  of  1868;  the  second  cuts  off  from  the 
west  side  of  their  reservation  a  country  as  large  as 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  including  the  Black  Hills. 

Another  stipulation: 

"  And  unless  they  will  receive  all  such  supplies 
herein  provided  for,  and  provided  for  by  said  treaty 
of  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-eight,  at  such  points 
and  places  on  their  said  reservation,  and  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Missouri  River,  as  the  President  may 
designate." 

This  relates  to  the  eastward  movement  of  the 
Black  Hills  Sioux. 

And  lastly: 

"Provided  further,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  In- 
terior may  use  of  the  foregoing  amounts  the  sum 
of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for  the  removal  of 
.  154 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

the  Poncas  to  the  Indian  Territory,  and  providing 
them  a  home  therein,  with  the  consent  of  said 
band." 

This  is  the  first  mention  of  the  Indian  Territory 
in  connection  with  the  Poncas.  The  only  hope  of 
these  farmer  Indians  now  lies  in  the  provision  for 
their  consent.  The  worst  that  the  Commissioner 
had  hinted  at  as  being  in  store  for  the  Poncas  was 
removal  to  the  Omaha  reservation,  —  in  eastern  Ne- 
braska, not  a  great  distance  from  their  own.  The 
Omahas  were  intermarried  extensively  with  the  Pon- 
cas, and  a  removal  to  that  reservation  would  have 
entailed  no  extraordinary  hardship. 

But  the  Indian  Territory!  The  graveyard  of  the 
northern  Indian  condemned  to  spend  his  days  in 
exile  there! 

The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  commenting 
in  1874  on  removals  to  that  country,  says: 

"  It  has  heretofore  been  considered  feasible  eventu- 
ally to  domicile  a  large  majority  of  the  Indians  in 
this  Territory.  Experience,  however,  shows  that  no 
effort  is  more  unsuccessful  with  an  Indian  than  that 
which  proposes  to  remove  him  from  the  place  of  his 
birth  and  the  graves  of  his  fathers.  Though  a  barren 
plain  without  wood  or  water,  he  will  not  voluntarily 
exchange  it  for  any  prairie  or  woodland,  however 
inviting." 

But  in  this  year,  1876,  what  does  the  Commis- 
sioner say? 

155 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  Steps  are  being  taken  for  the  removal  of  the 
Poncas  from  their  present  location  in  the  south- 
eastern corner  of  Dakota  to  the  Indian  Territory. 
Their  exposure  to  raids  from  the  Sioux,  whose  hos- 
tility arises  from  the  fact  that  the  Poncas  are  on 
lands  claimed  originally  by  the  Sioux  and  included 
in  their  permanent  reservation,  has  hitherto  been  a 
serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  progress  in  civi- 
lized life  which  they  seem  disposed  to  make.  It  is 
believed  that  when  the  necessity  of  giving  a  large 
share  of  attention  to  self-defence  is  removed  they 
will  readily  come  into  a  condition  of  self-support  by 
agriculture." 

The  Commissioner  expressed  this  tender  solicitude 
for  the  welfare  of  the  Poncas  under  date  of  Octo- 
ber 30 ;  he  had  the  report  of  his  agent,  dated  August 
n,  setting  forth  their  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Sioux. 
With  that  report  before  him,  why  was  he  attempt- 
ing to  accomplish  their  removal  to  avoid  a  condition 
which  had  already  ceased  to  exist?  His  next  sen- 
tence reveals  the  cause  of  his  sudden  interest  in 
their  welfare: 

"  The  proposed  removal  will  not  only  benefit  the 
Poncas,  but  the  reserve  thus  vacated  will  offer  a 
suitable  home  for  some  of  the  wild  bands  of  Sioux, 
where,  with  a  set  of  agency-buildings,  one  hundred 
Indian  houses,  and  five  hundred  acres  of  improved 
land  to  start  with,  the  experiment  of  their  civiliza- 
tion may  be  tried  to  advantage. 

156 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

"  For  this  removal,  conditioned  on  the  consent  of 
the  Poncas,  Congress  at  its  last  session  appropriated 
$25,000.  If  the  efforts  now  being  made  to  gain 
such  consent  are  successful,  the  move  will  be  com- 
menced in  early  spring." 

This  provision  for  the  consent  of  the  Poncas 
proved  to  have  been  a  most  indiscreet  concession 
on  the  part  of  Congress.  The  efforts  to  gain  the 
Indian  consent  were  continued  well  into  the  winter, 
and  in  January  an  inspector  took  ten  of  the  chiefs 
to  the  Indian  Territory  to  show  them  the  country. 

There  are  two  entirely  different  tales  of  this  trip 
to  the  South.  Here  is  the  story  as  discreetly  told 
by  the  Honorable  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs: 

"  Unfortunately,  the  delegation  of  ten  chiefs,  on 
account  of  the  failure  of  the  Osages  to  show  hospi- 
tality, inclement  weather,  and  other  causes,  became 
disheartened  at  the  outset,  declined  the  friendly  ad- 
vances of  the  Kaws,  refused  to  look  farther,  scarcely 
noticed  the  rich  lands  along  the  Arkansas  River,  and 
on  reaching  Arkansas  City,  eight  left  in  the  night 
on  foot  for  the  Ponca  agency,  which  they  reached  in 
forty  days." 

The  Indians  relate  a  dark  tale  of  attempted  coer- 
cion, with  the  alternative  of  being  cast  adrift,  with- 
out money,  interpreter,  or  guide,  in  a  strange  land 
four  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  home,  if  they 
refused  to  select  a  location  for  their  tribe  and  agree 
to  removal.  According  to  the  story  of  one  of  the 

157 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

eight  chiefs,  they  replied  that  "  it  would  be  better 
for  ten  of  us  to  die  than  that  the  whole  tribe,  all 
the  women  and  little  children,  should  be  brought 
there  to  die,  and  die  we  all  would,  right  there,  rather 
than  do  what  they  asked." 

The  remaining  two  chiefs  were  induced  to  make  a 
selection  of  land,  and  chose  a  location  on  the  Quapaw 
reservation  in  the  Indian  Territory.  Then  the  in- 
spector returned,  and  continued  his  efforts  to  gain 
the  consent  of  the  Poncas.  What  he  gained  is  told 
in  the  report  of  their  newly  appointed  agent  for 
1877: 

"  In  obedience  to  instructions  received  from  the  In- 
dian Office,  I  left  Hillsdale,  Michigan,  on  the  24th 
day  of  April  last,  arriving  at  Columbus,  Nebraska, 
on  the  28th,  at  which  place  I  had  expected  to  find 
Agent  Lawrence  with  the  Ponca  tribe  of  Indians 
en  route  for  their  new  home  in  the  Indian  Terri- 
tory. In  this  I  was  disappointed,  as  Lawrence  ar- 
rived on  the  same  day  with  only  170  of  the  tribe; 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  tribe  having  refused 
to  leave  their  old  reservation  in  Dakota,  stating,  as 
reported  to  me,  that  they  preferred  to  remain  and 
die  on  their  native  heath,  in  defence  of  their  homes, 
and  what  they  claimed  to  be  their  rights  in  the  land 
composing  the  reservation  upon  which  they  were 
living,  than  to  leave  there  and  die  by  disease  in  the 
unhealthy  miasmatic  country  which  they  claimed  had 
been  selected  for  them  in  the  Indian  Territory." 

158 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

This  was  the  result  of  the  winter's  work,  —  one 
hundred  and  seventy  out  of  a  total  of  seven  hun- 
dred and  thirty  Indians.  How  had  Washington 
taken  their  refusal  to  move? 

On  March  third,  attached  to  an  appropriation  bill 
providing  for  the  removal  of  the  Black  Hills  Sioux 
to  the  Missouri  River,  Congress  passed  a  second  act 
for  the  removal  of  the  Poncas: 

"  And  provided  further,  That  the  sum  of  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  of  this  appropriation,  in  addition 
to  that  heretofore  appropriated,  may  be  used  for  the 
removal  and  permanent  location  of  the  Poncas  in 
the  Indian  Territory." 

It  will  be  perceived  that  this  act  bears  a  strik- 
ing resemblance  to  the  one  of  August  15  preceding, 
which  has  already  been  quoted,  except  that  the  words 
"  with  the  consent  of  said  band  "  are  omitted.  The 
inference  is  that  the  resourceful  Uncle  Sam,  finding 
himself  handicapped  by  this  provision  in  the  first  act, 
decided  to  simply  legislate  the  matter  of  Indian  con- 
sent out  of  existence.  This  inference  may  be  con- 
sidered as  far-fetched;  indeed,  it  may  be  asserted 
that  it  is  monstrous  to  impute  a  motive  so  atrocious 
to  the  mere  omission  of  one  phrase. 

Let  the  public  records  express  the  Government's 
intent.  In  a  later  report,  containing  executive  orders 
and  other  papers  relating  to  Indian  affairs,  is  this 
statement : 

"  Ponca  Reserve.  By  the  Indian  appropriation  act 
159 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

of  August  15,  1876  (19  Stats.,  p.  192),  an  appro- 
priation was  made  for  the  removal  of  the  Poncas 
to  the  Indian  Territory  when  they  should  consent 
to  go.  By  the  Indian  appropriation  act  of  March  3, 
1877  (19  Stats.,  p.  287),  an  additional  appropriation 
was  made  for  the  same  purpose,  but  there  was  noth- 
ing contained  therein  respecting  their  consent.  Under 
these  acts  the  Poncas  were  removed  to  the  Quapaw 
reserve." 

And  again,  more  clearly,  in  the  official  "  Schedule 
of  Indian  Land  Cessions"  are  found  these  two  entries : 

"  1876.  Aug.  15,  Act  of  Congress.  Stat.  L., 
XIX,  192  —  Ponka  —  Provides  for  removal  of 
Poncas  to  Indian  Territory  whenever  they  consent. 
See  Acts  of  Congress  for  March  3,  1877,  .  .  ." 

"1877.  March  3,  Act  of  Congress.  Ponka  — 
Provides  for  their  removal  to  Indian  Territory 
without  regard  to  their  consent.  They  were  re- 
moved under  this  act  and  temporarily  located  in 
the  Country  of  the  Quapaw,  .  .  ." 

There  is  a  grim,  though  possibly  unintentional, 
humor  in  recording  under  the  title  of  "  Indian 
Land  Cessions "  the  removal  of  a  tribe  of  Indians 
from  their  native  heath  "  without  regard  to  their 
consent."  A  further  perusal  of  this  remarkable 
book  suggests  a  change  of  title  in  the  interests  of 
candor. 

But  the  Indian  consent  was  no  longer  to  be  reck- 
oned with  in  carrying  out  the  grand  scheme  for 

1 60 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

the  recovery  of  the  Black  Hills.  By  this  clever 
device  the  attitude  of  the  Poncas  in  withholding 
their  consent  to  give  up  their  land  became  at  once 
one  of  opposition  to  the  Government.  To  gain  their 
consent,  when  their  consent  was  a  legal  requirement, 
was  one  thing;  to  overcome  the  unwillingness  of 
these  Indian  farmers  to  obey  an  act  of  Congress 
was  quite  another. 

The  Honorable  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
continues  his  recital  to  the  Honorable  Secretary  of 
the  Interior: 

"  It  having  been  determined  that  the  removal  of 
the  remainder  of  the  tribe  must  now  be  insisted 
upon,  troops  were  ordered  to  the  Ponca  agency.  But 
it  was  decided  to  forestall  the  need  of  their  presence 
by  sending  back  the  Ponca  agent,  Mr.  Lawrence, 
with  his  successor,  Agent  Howard,  to  again  urge 
upon  the  Indians  a  quiet  compliance  with  the  wishes 
of  the  Government.  They  so  far  succeeded  as  to  be 
able  to  request  that  the  four  companies  who  had 
started  for  the  agency  be  recalled,  and  on  the  i6th 
of  May  the  last  Ponca  crossed  the  Niobrara  and 
turned  his  face  southward." 

This  is  the  manner  of  the  agent's  success: 

"  On  the  1 5th,  I  held  another  council,  which  was 
largely  attended  by  the  chiefs,  head-men,  and  sol- 
diers of  the  tribe,  and  which  was  of  more  than  four 
hours'  duration.  At  this  council  the  Indians  main- 
tained that  the  Government  had  no  right  to  move 
ii  161 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

them  from  the  reservation,  and  demanded  as  an  in- 
ducement or  equivalent  for  them  to  give  up  the 
reservation  and  move  to  the  Indian  Territory,  first, 
the  payment  to  them  by  the  Government  of  the  sum 
of  $3,000,000;  and,  second,  that  before  starting,  I 
should  show  to  them  the  sum  of  $40,000,  which 
they  had  been  told  had  been  appropriated  by  the 
Government  for  their  removal.  To  all  of  which  I 
replied  positively  in  the  negative,  telling  them  that 
I  would  not  accede  to  nor  consider  any  demands 
that  they  might  make,  but  that  I  would  take  under 
my  consideration  reasonable  requests  that  they  might 
submit  touching  their  removal,  and,  as  their  agent, 
do  what  I  could  for  them  in  promoting  their  wel- 
fare; that  I  demanded  that  they  should  at  all  times 
listen  to  my  words;  that  they  should  go  with  me 
to  their  new  home,  and  that  they  should,  without 
delay,  give  me  their  final  answer  whether  they  would 
go  peaceably  or  by  force.  The  Indians  refused  to 
give  answer  at  this  time,  and  the  council  closed 
without  definite  results,  and  the  Indians  dispersed 
with  a  sullen  look  and  determined  expression. 

"  On  the  following  morning,  however,  May  16, 
they  sent  word  to  me  at  an  early  hour  that  they 
had  considered  my  words  and  had  concluded  to  go 
with  me,  and  that  they  wanted  assistance  in  getting 
the  old  and  infirm,  together  with  their  property,  over 
the  Niobrara  River,  which  was  much  swollen  by  the 
rains  and  at  a  low  temperature.  I  at  once  employed 

162 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

from  the  young  men  of  the  tribe  a  suitable  number 
for  the  purpose,  and  at  five  o'clock  p.  M.  had  the 
entire  tribe  with  their  effects  across  the  river,  off 
the  reservation,  and  in  camp  in  Nebraska." 

Twenty-five  soldiers  had  been  in  service  at  the 
Ponca  agency  while  the  "  consent  "  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  was  being  secured;  they  seem  to 
have  furnished  the  necessary  showing  of  force. 
Confronted  with  the  choice  of  going  either  "  peace- 
ably or  by  force,"  these  unarmed  people  naturally 
concluded  to  go  peaceably.  The  soldiers  escorted 
them  for  the  first  twelve  of  their  fifty-two  days' 
journey  south,  to  insure  their  going. 

This  total  disregard  of  the  protests  of  the  Indians, 
and  their  removal  with  a  display  of  force,  has  been 
dwelt  upon  at  great  length  by  all  writers  of  Ponca 
history,  under  the  impression  that  the  action  was  in 
direct  violation  of  the  provision  in  the  removal  act,  to 
first  gain  their  consent.  The  legislation  designed  to 
remedy  this  annoying  feature  of  the  first  act  seems 
to  have  wholly  escaped  notice.  It  should  be  conceded 
that  while  the  national  pledge,  humanity,  justice,  and 
Christian  dealing  were  put  aside,  the  provision  for 
the  Indian  consent  was  not  violated;  it  was  legis- 
lated out  of  existence.  The  Indians  were  removed 
under  the  second  act  of  Congress. 

But  in  the  blaze  of  indignation  which  swept  over 
the  country  v/hen  the  main  facts  of  the  Ponca  re- 
moval became  known,  every  official  in  Washington 

163 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

connected  with  the  affair  rested  meekly  under  the 
charge  of  violation  of  the  consent  clause.  Not  once 
do  we  find  this  second  act  of  Congress  set  up  to 
stem  the  tide  of  popular  reproach.  It  may  be  con- 
sidered that,  in  this,  good  judgment  assisted  their 
discretion. 

Then  comes  the  story  of  the  journey  southward, 
—  and  these  are  extracts  from  the  "  Journal  of  the 
March,"  as  it  is  designated  in  the  records: 

"May  21.  Broke  camp  at  seven  o'clock,  and 
marched  to  Crayton,  a  distance  of  thirteen  miles. 
Roads  very  heavy.  The  child  that  died  yesterday 
was  here  buried  by  the  Indians,  they  preferring  to 
bury  it  than  to  having  it  buried  by  the  white 
people. 

"  May  23.  The  morning  opened  with  light  rain, 
but  at  eight  o'clock  a  terrific  thunder-storm  occurred 
of  two  hours'  duration,  which  was  followed  by  steady 
rain  throughout  the  day,  in  consequence  of  which 
we  remained  in  camp.  During  the  day  a  child  died, 
and  several  women  and  children  were  reported  sick, 
and  medical  attendance  and  medicine  were  obtained 
for  them. 

"  May  24.  Buried  the  child  that  died  yesterday 
in  the  cemetery  at  Neligh,  giving  it  a  Christian 
burial. 

"  May  27.  The  morning  opened  cold,  with  a  misty 
rain.  Rain  ceased  at  half-past  seven  o'clock,  and 
we  broke  camp  at  eight,  and  marched  eight  miles 

164 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

farther  down  Shell  Creek,  when,  a  heavy  thunder- 
storm coming  on,  we  again  went  into  camp.  Sev- 
eral of  the  Indians  were  here  found  to  be  quite  sick, 
and,  having  no  physician  and  none  being  attainable, 
they  gave  us  much  anxiety  and  no  little  trouble.  The 
daughter  of  Standing  Bear,  one  of  the  chiefs,  was 
very  low  of  consumption,  and  moving  her  with  any 
degree  of  comfort  was  almost  impossible,  and  the 
same  trouble  existed  in  transporting  all  the  sick. 

"  May  29.  Major  Walker,  who  had  accompanied 
us  from  the  Niobrara  to  this  place  with  twenty-five 
soldiers  under  orders  from  the  War  Department,  took 
leave  of  us  and  returned  to  Dakota. 

"  June  3.  Had  some  trouble  in  getting  started. 
Broke  camp  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  marched  eight 
miles.  Went  into  camp  on  Blue  River.  Many 
people  sick,  one  of  whom  was  reported  in  a  dying 
condition.  Had  bad  roads,  and  rained  during  the 
afternoon. 

"  June  5.  Broke  camp  at  seven  o'clock.  Marched 
fourteen  miles,  and  went  into  camp  near  Milford. 
Daughter  of  Standing  Bear,  Ponca  chief,  died  at 
two  o'clock,  of  consumption. 

"  June  6.  Remained  in  camp  all  day  for  the  pur- 
pose of  obtaining  supplies.  Prairie  Flower,  wife  of 
Shines  White,  and  daughter  of  Standing  Bear,  who 
died  yesterday,  was  here  given  Christian  burial,  her 
remains  being  deposited  in  the  cemetery  at  Milford, 
Neb.,  a  small  village  on  Blue  River. 

165 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  In  this  connection  I  wish  to  take  official  knowl- 
edge and  recognition  of  the  noble  action  performed 
by  the  ladies  of  Milford  in  preparing  and  decorating 
the  body  of  the  deceased  Indian  woman  for  burial 
in  a  style  becoming  the  highest  civilization.  In  this 
act  of  Christian  kindness  they  did  more  to  ameliorate 
the  grief  of  the  husband  and  father  than  they  could 
have  done  by  adopting  the  usual  course  of  this  untu- 
tored people,  and  presenting  to  each  a  dozen  ponies. 

"  June  8.  Broke  camp  at  Milford,  and  marched 
seven  miles.  Roads  very  bad.  Child  died  during 
the  day. 

"  June  9.  Put  the  child  that  died  yesterday  in  the 
coffin,  and  sent  it  back  to  Milford  to  be  buried  in 
the  same  grave  with  its  aunt,  Prairie  Flower. 

"  June  14.  Water-bound,  and  had  to  remain  in 
camp  all  day  waiting  for  creek  to  run  down.  The 
Otoe  Indians  came  out  to  see  the  Poncas,  and  gave 
them  ten  ponies. 

"June  1 6.  Broke  camp  at  seven  o'clock,  and 
reached  Marysville,  Kans.,  where  we  went  into  camp. 
During  the  march  a  wagon  tipped  over,  injuring  a 
woman  quite  severely.  Indians  out  of  rations  and 
feeling  hostile. 

"  June  1 8.  Broke  camp  at  seven  o'clock.  Marched 
nine  miles,  and  went  into  camp  at  Elm  Creek.  Little 
Cottonwood  died.  Four  families  determined  to  re- 
turn to  Dakota.  I  was  obliged  to  ride  nine  miles  on 
horseback  to  overtake  them,  to  restore  harmony,  and 

166 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

settle  difficulty  in  camp.  Had  coffin  made  for  dead 
Indian,  which  was  brought  to  camp  at  twelve  o'clock 
at  night  from  Blue  Rapids.  A  fearful  thunder-storm 
during  the  night,  flooding  the  camp  equipage. 

"  June  19.  The  storm  of  last  night  left  the  roads 
in  an  impassable  condition,  and  in  consequence  was 
obliged  to  remain  in  camp  all  day.  Buried  Little 
Cottonwood  in  a  cemetery  about  five  miles  from 
camp. 

"  June  25.  Broke  camp  at  six  o'clock.  Marched 
to  a  point  about  fifteen  miles  farther  up  Deep  Creek. 
Two  old  women  died  during  the  day. 

"  June  26.  The  two  old  women  who  died  yester- 
day were  given  Christian  burial  this  morning. 

"  June  30.  Broke  camp  at  six  o'clock.  Passed 
through  Hartford,  and  camped  about  six  miles  above 
Burlington.  A  child  of  Buffalo  Chief  died  during 
the  day. 

"July  i.  Broke  camp  at  six  o'clock.  Marched 
twelve  miles,  and  went  into  camp.  Purchased  a 
coffin  at  Burlington,  and  gave  the  dead  child  of 
Buffalo  Chief  a  Christian  burial  at  that  place." 

Christian  burial  seems  to  have  been  the  only  good 
thing  the  agent  had  to  offer  these  exiles.  He  con- 
tinued the  good  work,  for  six  weeks  later  he  says, 
"  Since  the  arrival  here  there  have  been  eight  deaths, 
all  of  which  have  been  given  Christian  burial  with 
but  small  expense  to  the  service." 

Far  out  upon  the  bleak  steppes  of  northern  Asia, 
167 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

where  the  Russian  exiles  slowly  drag  themselves  to 
their  Siberia,  are  the  old  and  infirm,  the  little  chil- 
dren and  consumptive  girls,  who  give  up  the  weary 
struggle  and  sink  by  the  wayside,  accorded  the  in- 
estimable boon  of  Christian  burial?  The  heart 
sickens  at  the  thought  that  they  are  not.  A  copy 
of  this  "  Journal  of  the  March "  should  be  pre- 
sented to  the  Czar,  that  he  may  learn  with  what 
exquisite  tenderness  a  more  enlightened  Government 
attends  the  last  rites  of  its  victims. 

Further  perusal  of  this  agent's  very  complete  re- 
port gives  us  a  picture  of  the  situation  and  outlook: 

"  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  removal  of  the 
Poncas  from  the  northern  climate  of  Dakota  to  the 
southern  climate  of  the  Indian  Territory,  at  the  sea- 
son of  the  year  it  was  done,  will  prove  a  mis- 
take, and  that  a  great  mortality  will  surely  follow 
among  the  people  when  they  shall  have  been  here 
for  a  time  and  become  poisoned  with  the  malaria 
of  the  climate.  Already  the  effects  of  the  climate 
may  be  seen  upon  them  in  the  ennui  that  seems  to 
have  settled  upon  each,  and  in  the  large  number 
now  sick. 

"  It  is  a  matter  of  astonishment  to  me  that  the 
Government  should  have  ordered  the  removal  of  the 
Ponca  Indians  from  Dakota  to  the  Indian  Territory 
without  having  first  made  some  provision  for  their 
settlement  and  comfort.  Before  their  removal  was 
carried  into  effect  an  appropriation  should  have  been 

168 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

made  by  Congress  sufficient  to  have  located  them  in 
their  new  home,  by  building  a  comfortable  house  for 
the  occupancy  of  every  family  of  the  tribe.  As  the 
case  now  is,  no  appropriation  has  been  made  by  Con- 
gress, except  a  sum  of  but  little  more  than  sufficient 
to  remove  them ;  no  houses  have  been  built  for  their 
use,  and  the  result  is  that  these  people  have  been  placed 
on  an  uncultivated  reservation  to  live  in  their  tents  as 
best  they  may,  and  await  further  legislative  action. 

"  The  rainy  season,  which  I  am  informed  usually 
commences  in  this  country  from  the  ist  to  the  I5th 
of  September,  will  soon  be  upon  them,  and  before 
any  appropriation  can  be  made  by  Congress  for  the 
construction  of  houses,  winter  will  have  set  in,  and 
they  will  be  obliged  to  remain  in  their  tents  until 
spring,  which  will  be  but  a  poor  protection  for  their 
families  against  the  elements." 

The  agent's  gloomy  predictions,  based  on  the  cli- 
matic conditions  and  the  lack  of  shelter,  were  duly  veri- 
fied. The  official  record  of  deaths  for  the  ensuing 
year  was  eighty-five ;  the  Indians  mourned  the  loss  of 
one  hundred  and  fifty-seven ;  but  if  there  is  any  virtue 
to  be  extracted  from  the  fact  that  one-seventh,  instead 
of  one-fifth,  of  the  entire  tribe  was  sacrificed  within 
the  first  year,  the  Indian  service  is  welcome  to  it. 

The  agent  next  proceeds  to  lecture  his  Govern- 
ment on  the  question  of  title: 

"  As  the  matter  now  stands,  the  title  to  this  reser- 
vation remains  in  the  Quapaws,  no  effort  having  been 

169 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

made  as  yet  to  even  remove  them  from  it;  and  the 
title  to  the  old  Ponca  reservation  in  Dakota  still 
remains  in  the  Poncas,  they  having  signed  no  papers 
relinquishing  their  title  nor  having  violated  any  of 
the  provisions  of  the  treaty  by  which  it  was  ceded 
to  them  by  the  Government. 

"  These  Indians  claim  that  the  Government  has 
no  right  to  move  them  from  their  reservation  with- 
out first  obtaining  from  them  by  purchase  or  treaty 
the  title  which  they  had  acquired  from  the  Govern- 
ment, and  for  which  they  rendered  a  valuable  con- 
sideration. They  claim  that  the  date  of  the  settlement 
of  their  tribe  upon  the  land  composing  their  old 
reservation  is  prehistoric;  that  they  were  all  born 
there,  and  that  their  ancestors  from  generations  back 
beyond  their  knowledge  were  born  and  lived  upon 
its  soil,  and  that  they  finally  acquired  a  complete  and 
perfect  title  from  the  Government  by  treaty  made 
with  the  '  Great  Father  '  at  Washington,  which,  they 
claimed,  made  it  as  legitimately  theirs  as  is  the 
home  of  the  white  man  acquired  by  gift  or  pur- 
chase. They  now  ask  that  a  delegation  of  their  chiefs 
and  head-men  be  allowed  to  visit  Washington  for 
the  purpose  of  settling  all  matters  of  difference  be- 
tween them  and  the  Government;  and  that  they  may 
talk  to  the  '  Great  Father '  face  to  face  about  the  great 
wrongs  which  they  claim  have  been  done  them. 

"  I  earnestly  recommend  that  their  request  be 
granted." 

170 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

It  may  be  interesting  to  learn  which  of  the  Black 
Hills  Chiefs  succeeded  to  the  ancient  home  of  the 
Poncas,  —  Red  Cloud  or  Spotted  Tail  ?  Two 
months  later  the  Honorable  Commissioner  of  In- 
dian Affairs,  with  this  full  Ponca  record  before 
him,  reported  to  the  Honorable  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  the  selection  of  a  location  for  Red  Cloud 
farther  up  the  Missouri.  Then  he  says: 

"  For  the  latter  [Spotted  Tail],  the  old  Ponca  re- 
serve was  decided  upon,  where  the  agency  dwellings, 
store-houses,  one  hundred  and  fifty  Indian  houses, 
and  five  hundred  acres  of  cultivated  fields,  left  va- 
cant by  the  Poncas,  offer  special  advantages  for 
present  quarters." 

And  with  the  Sioux  it  is  the  same  old  story  of 
the  Indian  attachment  to  the  soil.  In  his  next  sen- 
tence the  Commissioner  complains  that  "  the  Spotted 
Tail  and  Red  Cloud  Indians  persisted  in  making 
strenuous  objection  to  such  removal,"  —  but  they 
were  removed,  and  Spotted  Tail  soon  dwelt,  an 
exile,  in  the  home  of  the  Poncas. 

What  is  home?  Four  walls?  A  palace?  It 
may  be  high  mountains  and  a  green  valley;  rocks 
and  a  stream;  or  a  sea  of  brown  grass  waving 
in  the  wind.  It  is  the  one  spot  in  nature  that 
entwines  our  earliest  thoughts,  which  ripen  with 
maturing  years  into  tender  memories.  And  those 
who  dwell  nearest  nature  know  best  the  ties  of 
home. 

171 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

In  considering  the  Indians'  appeal  to  Washington, 
the  Commissioner  says,  in  the  same  report: 

"  A  delegation  of  the  tribe  recently  visited  Wash- 
ington and  presented  to  the  President  their  earnest 
request  to  be  allowed  to  return  to  their  old  reserva- 
tion in  Dakota  or  to  join  the  Omahas,  a  kindred 
tribe,  in  Nebraska.  The  obvious  unwisdom  and  even 
impossibility  of  removing  Indians  from  the  Indian 
Territory  necessitated  a  refusal  of  their  request;  but 
they  were  given  permission  to  select  a  permanent 
home  upon  any  unoccupied  lands  in  the  territory 
which  the  Government  still  owns.  They  were  urged 
to  take  immediate  steps  to  effect  a  settlement  of  the 
matter,  and  were  promised,  as  soon  as  the  locality 
should  be  decided  upon  and  Congress  should  pro- 
vide the  necessary  funds,  such  assistance  in  the  way 
of  schools,  houses,  stock,  seeds,  tools,  agricultural 
implements,  etc.,  as  would  enable  them  to  more  than 
replace  the  property  and  improvements  unwillingly 
relinquished  in  Dakota;  but  they  were  made  dis- 
tinctly to  understand  that  all  assistance  by  the 
Government  would  be  in  the  line  of  teaching  them 
self-helpfulness,  and  would  be  conditioned  on  exer- 
tions put  forth  by  themselves  in  that  direction." 

The  italics  are  those  of  the  Commissioner.  It  is 
difficult  to  discover  any  process  of  reasoning  in  the 
words  "  obvious  unwisdom  and  even  impossibility," 
but  that  italicised  word  "  from  "  furnishes  the  key 
to  the  settled  policy  of  removals  to  the  country 

172 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

which  the  Indians  have  always  regarded  as  "  the 
graveyard  of  the  Indian  race."  Indians  may  go  to, 
but  never  from  that  country.  Originally  intended 
as  an  exclusive  refuge  for  the  American  Indian, 
where  he  might  learn  the  ways  of  civilization  and 
eventually  become  a  part  of  the  national  life  as  an 
Indian  State,  the  Indian  Territory  had  degenerated 
into  a  general  dumping-ground  for  every  tribe  that 
in  its  own  home  was  an  obstruction  to  the  grand 
scheme  of  national  upbuilding.  The  only  removals 
from  the  Indian  Territory  were  those  of  the  grim 
reaper,  and  his  harvest  among  the  outcasts  seems 
to  have  been  viewed  with  settled  complacency. 

These  are  some  of  the  expressions  of  the  Com- 
missioner before  the  storm  of  popular  disfavor  broke 
upon  Washington.  Now  observe  the  change.  One 
year  later,  stung  by  the  most  severe  criticism,  beset 
on  all  sides  by  lovers  of  justice,  this  same  Commis- 
sioner extends  his  tender  sympathy: 

"  In  this  removal,  I  am  sorry  to  be  compelled  to 
say,  the  Poncas  were  wronged,  and  restitution  should 
be  made  as  far  as  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  do  so.  For  the  violation  of  their  treaty 
no  adequate  return  has  yet  been  made.  They  gave 
up  lands,  houses,  and  agricultural  implements.  The 
houses  and  implements  will  be  returned  to  them ; 
their  lands  should  be  immediately  paid  for,  and  the 
title  to  their  present  location  should  be  made  secure. 
But  the  removal  inflicted  a  far  greater  injury  upon 

173 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  Poncas,  for  which  no  reparation  can  be  made, 
—  the  loss  by  death  of  many  of  their  number,  caused 
by  change  of  climate." 

Again  this  curious  recognition  of  the  Indian  title 
after,  and  not  before,  the  Indian  has  been  dispos- 
sessed—  but  without  a  suggestion  of  restoring  the 
land. 

How  changed  is  the  tone  of  official  Washington 
when  above  the  clamor  of  the  Vociferous  Few  rises  the 
real,  the  unmistakable  "  voice  of  the  people  " ;  of  a 
high-minded  people,  outraged,  burning  with  shame 
that  the  Government  of  "  all  the  people  "  should  lend 
itself  to  the  intrigues  of  a  handful  of  mountebanks ! 

A  year  after  their  removal  to  the  Indian  Territory, 
the  Poncas,  again  removed  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  miles  farther  west,  were  still  living  in  tents; 
their  agent  says: 

"  Their  sufferings  have  greatly  discouraged  and 
made  them  dissatisfied  with  this  location,  and  they 
express  a  strong  desire  to  go  back  to  their  old 
reservation  in  Dakota.  However,  I  am  of  the  opin- 
ion that  if  the  Government  will  fully  and  promptly 
fulfil  all  the  promises  made  to  them  to  induce  them 
to  leave  Dakota  and  take  up  their  home  on  this 
reservation  they  will  cheerfully  accept  the  situation 
and  settle  down  with  a  determination  to  labor  and 
better  their  condition.  At  present  there  is  a  rest- 
less, discontented  feeling  pervading  the  whole  tribe. 
They  seem  to  have  lost  faith  in  the  promises  of  the 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

Government,  and  often  say  the  *  Great  Father  '  has 
forgotten  them ;  by  the  time  he  again  remembers 
them  none  will  be  left  to  receive  what  he  has  prom- 
ised them.  The  chiefs  are  very  anxious  to  visit 
Washington  and  have  a  talk  with  the  President  for 
the  purpose  of  having  the  size  and  boundaries  of 
their  reservation  determined  and  definitely  settled  by 
treaty  stipulations.  I  would  earnestly  recommend 
that  they  be  allowed  to  do  so  some  time  during  the 
coming  winter.  I  think  it  would  contribute  greatly 
toward  a  restoration  of  good  feeling,  and  to  re- 
move the  spirit  of  discontent'  and  dissatisfaction 
which  now  pervades  their  minds. 

"  The  Poncas  are  good  Indians.  In  mental  en- 
dowment, moral  character,  physical  strength,  and 
cleanliness  of  person  they  are  superior  to  any  tribe 
I  have  ever  met.  I  beg  for  them  the  prompt  and 
generous  consideration  of  the  Government,  whose 
fast  and  warm  friends  they  have  ever  been." 

This  appeal  of  the  Indians  for  a  second  talk  with 
with  their  "  Great  Father  "  in  Washington  was  not 
granted.  Denied  the  recognition  of  their  treaty 
right  to  their  old  home,  and  discouraged  in  the 
hope  of  ultimate  justice,  the  Poncas,  homesick, 
heartsick,  sick  in  body,  began  to  escape  from  their 
reservation  in  small  parties,  in  the  hope  that  they 
might  make  their  way  back  to  die  in  the  land  of 
their  fathers.  The  story  of  the  wanderings  of  these 
little  bands  five  hundred  miles  through  a  strange 

175 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

country  to  their  beloved  Dakota  home  is  most  pa- 
thetic; that  any  of  them  reached  the  North  alive 
is  wholly  due  to  the  quick  sympathy  and  assistance 
of  benevolent  people  through  whose  country  they 
passed,  and  of  many  others  who  had  learned  of 
their  affliction.  A  few  of  these  Poncas  reached  their 
old  neighbors,  the  Santees,  whose  reservation  was  a 
few  miles  east  of  the  old  Ponca  home.  The  Santee 
agent  reports: 

"  During  the  last  year  about  thirty  Poncas  came 
among  us  asking  that  they  could  be  allowed  to  stay, 
stating  they  had  been  taken  to  a  very  hot  place  and 
many  of  their  friends  had  died,  and  they  were  heart- 
sick and  wished  the  Santees  to  have  pity  on  them 
and  allow  them  to  stay  up  here  in  this  good  land 
among  them.  The  councillors  consented,  and  they 
are  among  us  sending  their  children  to  school  and 
making  a  good  start." 

Another  little  band,  in  the  early  spring  of  1879, 
set  their  faces  northward  under  the  guidance  of 
Chief  Standing  Bear.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
the  daughter  of  Standing  Bear,  Prairie  Flower,  died 
on  the  march  to  the  South;  many  of  his  relatives 
and  all  but  one  of  his  children  died  in  the  Indian 
Territory.  The  last  to  die  was  his  oldest  son,  a 
young  man  who  could  speak  and  read  English,  the 
hope  and  dependence  of  his  aged  father.  The  dying 
boy,  according  to  the  later  testimony  of  Standing 
Bear,  begged  his  father  to  take  his  body  back  to 

176 


CHIEF  STANDING  BEAR 

(1877) 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

the  old  home  for  burial,  and  the  broken-hearted 
chief,  hoping  at  the  same  time  to  save  the  lives  of 
his  wife  and  only  remaining  child,  placed  the  bones 
of  his  boy  in  an  old  trunk,  and  with  fifty  of  his 
followers  escaped  from  the  reservation.  After  en- 
during incredible  hardships,  thirty  of  them  reached 
their  kindred  tribe,  the  Omahas,  who  dissuaded  them 
from  at  once  attempting  to  continue  on  their  jour- 
ney to  the  old  Ponca  reserve,  for  they  were  sick 
and  without  provisions  and  the  necessary  implements 
to  establish  homes  for  themselves.  The  Omahas  in- 
duced Standing  Bear  to  remain  with  them,  gave  his 
party  land,  tools  and  seed  to  plant  it,  and  those  of 
the  Indians  who  were  not  too  ill  to  do  so  went  to 
work. 

But  the  Interior  Department  did  not  propose  to 
have  any  Ponca  bands  within  a  possible  marching 
distance  of  their  old  home.  Under  orders  of  the 
War  Department  troops  were  sent  to  the  Omaha 
reservation  to  take  the  party  South.  They  came 
upon  these  Indians,  half  of  them  still  sick,  the 
others  ploughing  and  planting,  acquainted  them  with 
the  orders  of  the  Department,  and  once  again  the 
Poncas  took  up  the  weary  march,  back  to  their 
Siberia,  still  bearing  the  trunk  containing  the  bones 
of  Standing  Bear's  son. 

They  were  first  taken  to  Fort  Omaha,  situated  on 
the  outskirts  of  the  city  of  Omaha.  In  an  incred- 
ibly short  time  their  story  was  being  told  about  the 
"  177 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

city;  a  day  or  two  later,  one  Sunday,  several 
churches  passed  resolutions  after  their  regular  ser- 
vices, and  the  pastors  joined  in  a  telegram  of  pro- 
test to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  Friends  of 
the  Indian  race  in  Washington  were  at  once  in- 
formed, and  appealed  in  person  to  both  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Interior  and  the  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs. 

All  this  availed  nothing;  the  final  word  from 
Washington  ordered  their  return  to  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory. But  this  set-back  served  only  to  stimulate 
the  good  people  of  Omaha  in  their  efforts.  Attor- 
neys were  then  interested  in  the  case,  and  on  a  writ 
of  habeas  corpus  the  whole  question  of  the  deten- 
tion and  removal  of  Standing  Bear's  band  was 
brought  into  the  United  States  District  Court  for 
Nebraska  for  a  hearing,  on  the  ground  that  the 
Indians  had  committed  no  crime  and  were  deprived 
of  their  liberty  without  due  process  of  law. 

The  Interior  Department  strenuously  opposed  this 
measure  of  relief.  The  counsel  for  the  Government, 
in  an  argument  of  several  hours'  duration,  main- 
tained that  Standing  Bear  was  not  entitled  to  the 
protection  of  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  on  the  ground 
that  an  Indian  was  not  a  person  under  the  law,  and 
had  no  standing  in  the  courts;  while  the  equally 
able  attorneys  for  the  Indians  contended  that  such 
protection  was  intended  to  apply  to  every  human 
being,  and  that  any  other  interpretation  of  the  law 

178 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

was   in  violation  of  the  fundamental   principles  of 
the  Constitution. 

This  is  a  bit  of  Standing"  Bear's  testimony : 
"A.  He  says,  when  I  got  down  there,  I  saw  the 
land,  and  the  land  was  not  good  to  my  eye;  some 
places  it  looked  good,  but  you  kick  up  the  soil  a 
little,  and  you  found  lots  of  stones.  It  was  not  fit 
to  farm.  When  we  got  down  there  we  heard  we 
were  going  to  get  clothing,  and  get  money,  and 
everything  that  we  wanted,  but  I  have  not  seen  it 
yet.  When  I  was  told  to  go  down  there,  I  thought, 
perhaps,  the  land  was  good,  and  I  could  make  a 
living,  but  when  I  got  down  there  it  was  entirely 
different  from  the  land  in  my  own  home.  I  could  n't 
plough,  I  could  n't  sow  any  wheat,  and  we  all  got 
sick,  and  could  n't  do  anything.  It  seemed  as  though 
I  had  no  strength  in  my  body  at  all.  The  hot  cli- 
mate did  n't  agree  with  me.  But  when  I  came  back 
here  I  seemed  to  get  strength  every  day.  Instead 
of  our  tribe  becoming  prosperous,  they  died  off  every 
day  during  the  time.  From  the  time  I  went  down 
there  until  I  left,  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  of  us 
died.  I  thought  to  myself,  God  wants  me  to  live, 
and  I  think  if  I  come  back  to  my  old  reservation 
He  will  let  me  live.  I  got  back  as  far  as  the  Omahas, 
and  they  brought  me  down  here.  I  see  you  all  here 
to-day.  What  have  I  done?  I  am  brought  here, 
but  what  have  I  done?  I  don't  know.  It  seems  as 
though  I  have  n't  a  place  in  the  world,  no  place  to 

179 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

go,  and  no  home  to  go  to,  but  when  I  see  your  faces 
here,  I  think  some  of  you  are  trying  to  help  me,  so 
that  I  can  get  a  place  sometime  to  live  in,  and  when 
it  comes  my  time  to  die,  to  die  peacefully  and  happy. 
(This  was  spoken  in  a  loud  voice,  and  with  much 
emphasis.) 

"  The  Court.    Tell  the  witness  to  keep  cool." 
The  opinion  of  Judge  Dundy  begins  with  these 
words : 

"  During  the  fifteen  years  in  which  I  have  been 
engaged  in  administering  the  laws  of  my  country, 
I  have  never  been  called  upon  to  hear  or  decide  a 
case  that  appealed  so  strongly  to  my  sympathy  as 
the  one  now  under  consideration.  On  the  one  side 
we  have  a  few  of  the  remnants  of  a  once  numerous 
and  powerful,  but  now  weak,  insignificant,  unlet- 
tered, and  generally  despised  race.  On  the  other,  we 
have  the  representative  of  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful, most  enlightened,  and  most  Christianized  na- 
tions of  modern  times.  On  the  one  side  we  have 
the  representatives  of  this  wasted  race  coming  into 
this  national  tribunal  of  ours  asking  for  justice  and 
liberty  to  enable  them  to  adopt  our  boasted  civiliza- 
tion and  to  pursue  the  arts  of  peace,  which  have 
made  us  great  and  happy  as  a  nation.  On  the 
other  side  we  have  this  magnificent,  if  not  magnan- 
imous, Government,  resisting  this  application  with 
the  determination  of  sending  these  people  back 
to  the  country  which  is  to  them  less  desirable 

1 80 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

than  perpetual  imprisonment  in  their  own  native 
land." 

It  may  seem  beyond  belief  that  in  the  one  hundred 
and  third  year  of  the  declaration,  "  all  men  are 
created  equal,"  it  was  necessary  for  a  federal  judge 
to  determine  at  great  length  that  every  human  being 
is  a  person,  and  as  such  entitled  to  a  hearing  in  the 
courts,  but  pages  of  the  decision  are  given  to  this 
phase  of  the  case;  even  the  dictionary  is  appealed 
to.  The  Judge  says : 

"  Webster  describes  a  '  person  '  as  *  a  living  soul ; 
a  self-conscious  being;  a  moral  agent;  especially  a 
living  human  being;  a  man,  woman,  or  child;  an 
individual  of  the  human  race.'  This  is  comprehen- 
sive enough,  it  would  seem,  to  include  even  an 
Indian." 

The  Judge  reviews  the  circumstances  at  the  time 
of  the  arrest,  and  at  considerable  length  leads  up  to 
his  decision : 

"  To  accomplish  what  would  seem  to  be  a  desir- 
able and  laudable  purpose,  all  who  were  able  so  to 
do  went  to  work  to  earn  a  living.  The  Omaha  In- 
dians, who  speak  the  same  language,  and  with  whom 
many  of  the  Poncas  have  long  since  continued  to 
intermarry,  gave  them  employment  and  ground  to 
cultivate  so  as  to  make  them  self-sustaining.  And 
it  was  when  at  the  Omaha  reservation,  and  when 
thus  employed,  that  they  were  arrested  by  order  of 
the  Government  for  the  purpose  of  being  taken  back 

181 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

to  the  Indian  Territory.  They  claim  to  be  unable 
to  see  the  justice,  or  reason,  or  wisdom,  or  necessity 
of  removing  them  by  force  from  their  own  native 
plains  and  blood  relations  to  a  far-off  country  in 
which  they  can  see  little  but  new-made  graves  open- 
ing for  their  reception.  The  land  from  which  they 
fled  in  fear  has  no  attractions  for  them.  The  love 
of  home  and  native  land  was  strong  enough  in  the 
minds  of  these  people  to  induce  them  to  brave  every 
peril  to  return  and  live  and  die  where  they  had  been 
reared.  The  bones  of  the  dead  son  of  Standing 
Bear  were  not  to  repose  in  the  land  they  hoped  to 
be  leaving  forever,  but  were  carefully  preserved  and 
protected,  and  formed  a  part  of  what  was  to  them 
a  melancholy  procession  homeward.  Such  instances 
of  parental  affection,  and  such  love  of  home  and 
native  land  may  be  heathen  in  origin,  but  it  seems 
to  me  that  they  are  not  unlike  Christian  in 
principle.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  searched  in  vain  for  the  semblance  of 
any  authority  justifying  the  commissioner  in  at- 
tempting to  remove  by  force  any  Indians,  whether 
belonging  to  a  tribe  or  not,  to  any  place,  or  for 
any  other  purpose  than  what  has  been  stated.  Cer- 
tainly, without  some  specific  authority  found  in  an 
act  of  Congress,  or  in  a  treaty  with  the  Ponca  tribe 
of  Indians,  he  could  not  lawfully  force  the  relators 
back  to  the  Indian  Territory,  to  remain  and  die  in 
that  country,  against  their  will.  ...  If  they  could 

182 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

be  removed  to  the  Indian  Territory  by  force,  and 
kept  there  in  the  same  way,  I  can  see  no  good 
reason  why  they  might  not  be  taken  and  kept  by 
force  in  the  penitentiary  at  Lincoln,  or  Leavenworth, 
or  Jefferson  City,  or  any  other  place  which  the 
commander  of  the  forces  might,  in  his  judgment, 
see  proper  to  designate.  I  cannot  think  that  any 
such  arbitrary  authority  exists  in  this  country. 

"  The  reasoning  advanced  in  support  of  my  views 
leads  me  to  conclude: 

"  First.  That  an  Indian  is  a  PERSON  within  the 
meaning  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  has 
therefore  the  right  to  sue  out  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus 
in  a  federal  court,  or  before  a  federal  judge,  in  all 
cases  where  he  may  be  confined,  or  in  custody  under 
color  of  authority  of  the  United  States,  or  where 
he  is  restrained  of  liberty  in  violation  of  the  Con- 
stitution or  laws  of  the  United  States. 

"  Second.  That  General  George  Crook,  the  re- 
spondent, being  the  commander  of  the  military 
department  of  the  Platte,  has  the  custody  of  the 
relators  under  color  of  authority  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  violation  of  the  laws  thereof. 

"  Third.  That  no  rightful  authority  exists  for 
removing  by  force  any  of  the  relators  to  the  In- 
dian Territory,  as  the  respondent  has  been  directed 
to  do. 

"  Fourth.  That  the  Indians  possess  the  inherent 
right  of  expatriation  as  well  as  the  more  fortunate 

183 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

white  race,  and  have  the  inalienable  right  to  '  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,'  so  long  as  they 
obey  the  laws  and  do  not  trespass  on  forbidden 
ground.  And  — 

"  Fifth.  Being  restrained  of  liberty  under  color 
of  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  in  violation 
of  the  laws  thereof,  the  relators  must  be  discharged 
from  custody,  and  it  is  so  ordered." 

Liberty!  Bereft  of  homes  and  goods,  mourning 
their  many  dead,  yet  Liberty  came  to  these  benighted 
Indians  as  a  ray  of  light  in  the  darkness.  Standing 
Bear,  taking  from  his  few  treasures  a  war-bonnet, 
a  tomahawk,  and  a  pair  of  buckskin  leggings,  sought 
out  his  three  greatest  benefactors  —  the  gentleman 
who  had  first  discovered  his  distress,  and  the  two 
attorneys  who  conducted  his  case  without  expecta- 
tion of  reward  —  and  presented  to  them  the  simple 
tokens  of  his  gratitude: 

"  A  little  while  ago  I  had  a  house  and  land  and 
stock.  Now  I  have  nothing.  It  may  be  that  some 
time  you  may  have  trouble.  You  might  lose  your 
house.  If  you  ever  want  a  home  come  to  me  or 
my  tribe.  You  shall  never  want  as  long  as  we  have 
anything.  All  the  tribe  in  the  Indian  Territory  will 
soon  know  what  you  have  done.  While  there  is  one 
Ponca  alive  you  will  never  be  without  a  friend."  1 

But  freedom  did  not  bring  with  it  the  restoration 
of  a  single  right  to  their  goods  and  lands.  They 

i   "The  Ponca  Chiefs." 
184 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

were  destitute,  and  without  a  home.  The  members 
of  the  Omaha  Committee,  with  substantial  aid  from 
many  other  friends  of  the  Indian,  succeeded  in  gath- 
ering about  one  hundred  of  the  refugee  Poncas  near 
their  old  reservation.  The  number  was  soon  in- 
creased to  one  hundred  and  seventy-five.  The  San- 
tee  agent's  report  for  the  ensuing  year  takes  notice 
of  them: 

"  In  my  report  last  year  I  spoke  of  a  number  of 
Ponca  Indians  who  had  come  among  the  Santees. 
Since  then  they  have  nearly  all  left,  and  they  are 
now  living  on  an  island,  about  three  miles  above 
Niobrara,  adjoining  their  old  reservation.  I  visited 
them  a  short  time  ago  and  found  they  numbered 
103  souls.  They  have  considerable  corn;  are  mak- 
ing hay  and  building  houses  for  the  winter.  They 
have  been  and  are  now  receiving  some  assistance 
from  an  organization  at  Omaha  which  has  been 
created  for  their  relief." 

Consternation  was  upon  the  autocrats  of  the  In- 
dian Ring.  An  Indian  a  person?  Impossible.  En- 
titled to  the  protection  of  the  courts?  A  dangerous 
proposition.  The  Indian  would  be  lost  to  the  Inner 
Circle  as  a  political  asset  if  freedom  were  extended 
to  him.  The  case  was  promptly  appealed,  but,  in 
the  language  of  the  records: 

"  At  the  May  term,  1879,  Mr.  Justice  MILLER 
refused  to  hear  an  appeal  prosecuted  by  the  United 
States,  because  the  Indians  who  had  petitioned  for 

185 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  were  not  present,  having 
been  released  by  the  order  of  DUNDY,  J.,  and  no 
security  for  their  appearance  having  been  taken." 

It  would  have  required  something  more  than  a 
cordial  invitation  to  bring  Standing  Bear  again  into 
the  clutches  of  his  Great  Father. 

Much  more  that  is  interesting  in  the  Ponca  case 
does  not  appear  in  the  official  reports.  The  case 
of  Standing  Bear  brought  the  public  to  its  highest 
pitch  of  indignation  over  the  Ponca  outrage.  Public 
meetings  were  held  in  condemnation  of  the  whole 
affair,  and  attention  was  called  to  many  other  in- 
stances of  the  Government's  perfidy  in  its  dealings 
with  its  helpless  wards.  In  Boston  a  committee  was 
appointed,  with  Gov.  John  D.  Long  of  Massachu- 
setts as  chairman,  to  investigate  the  wrongs  of  the 
Poncas ;  money  was  raised  to  determine  in  the  courts 
the  legality  of  holding  the  remaining  members  of  the 
tribe  in  the  Indian  Territory,  and  to  restore  their 
old  home  to  them.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
was  appealed  to  by  persons  of  prominence  in  both 
official  and  civil  life  to  sanction  such  a  test  of  the 
matter  in  the  courts.  Again,  all  this  availed  noth- 
ing. The  official  argument  is  of  much  the  same 
satisfying  and  convincing  order  as  "  The  obvious 
unwisdom  and  even  impossibility  of  removing  In- 
dians from  the  Indian  Territory." 

The  most  miserable  of  all  the  official  excuses  put 
forward  was  based  upon  an  incomprehensible  blunder 

186 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

of  the  Government.  It  will  be  remembered  that  in 
1858  the  Poncas  had  their  home  guaranteed  to  them 
by  solemn  treaty.  In  1868  a  treaty  was  entered  into 
with  the  Sioux,  and,  in  loosely  defining  the  bounds 
of  their  reservation  as  the  Missouri  River  on  the 
east  and  Nebraska  on  the  south,  the  entire  Ponca 
reservation,  lying  just  north  of  the  Nebraska  line, 
was  unwittingly  included  in  that  allotted  to  the 
Sioux.  Now  nothing  is  clearer  than  that  this  mis- 
take should  have  been  at  once  rectified  by  obtaining 
from  the  Sioux  a  relinquishment  of  the  Ponca  tract ; 
a  Government  that  could  peremptorily  demand  of 
the  Sioux  the  cession  of  the  entire  Black  Hills  on 
pain  of  starvation  could  have  obtained  this  small 
concession  by  even  less  strenuous  methods.  It  is 
equally  clear  that  the  vested  rights  of  the  Poncas 
could  not  equitably  be  disturbed  in  this  settlement, 
which  was  a  matter  only  between  the  Government 
and  the  Sioux. 

That  such  a  blunder  could  have  been  made,  and 
allowed  to  stand  for  eight  years,  shows  with  con- 
siderable clearness  the  Government's  disregard  for 
the  integrity  of  its  Indian  treaties;  it  is  still  more 
significant  that,  after  eight  years,  this  "  unfortunate 
blunder  "  made  its  official  appearance  coincident  with 
the  plan  to  remove  the  Spotted  Tail  and  Red  Cloud 
Sioux  to  the  Missouri;  but  the  saddest  service  of 
this  miserable  excuse  was  to  block  the  way  to  the 
restoration  of  the  Ponca  homes.  Time  and  again 

187 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  chroniclers  in  the  public  records  admit  the 
wretched  business,  and  as  many  times  deny  restitu- 
tion. The  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  says: 

"  By  a  blunder  in  making  the  Sioux  Treaty  of 
1868,  the  96,000  acres  belonging  to  the  Poncas  were 
ceded  to  the  Sioux.  The  negotiators  had  no  right 
whatever  to  make  the  cession.  .  .  ." 

Here  is  one  of  the  most  ludicrous  defences  in  the 
records : 

"  By  a  treaty  made  by  the  Government  with  the 
Sioux  in  1868,  the  Ponca  lands  were  ceded  to  them 
by  mistake,  so  that  both  tribes  claimed  the  land; 
the  Poncas  had  the  oldest  and  best  title,  but  the 
Sioux  being  so  much  stronger,  and  regarding  and 
treating  the  Poncas  as  trespassers,  were  fast  send- 
ing them  to  the  '  happy  hunting-grounds,'  and  thus 
the  question  presented  itself  to  the  Government,  the 
duty  of  protecting  the  weak  against  the  strong,  of 
saving  human  lives;  this  was  paramount  to  the 
question  of  title,  because,  conceding  as  it  did  the 
Ponca  title  to  be  good,  the  Government  was  unable 
to  protect  them  in  the  peaceable  enjoyment  of  it, 
and  the  only  just  and  humane  thing  it  could  do 
was  to  move  them  out  of  the  reach  of  their  op- 
pressors. The  Government  could  pay  for  the  spolia- 
tion, but  it  could  not  restore  the  dead  to  life." 

This  is  really  too  silly  to  deserve  comment.  In 
all  the  pilfering  Sioux  raids,  not  a  dozen  Poncas 
were  actually  killed;  yet  one  hundred  and  fifty- 

188 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

seven  were  sent  to  the  "  happy  hunting-grounds " 
by  the  removal  within  one  year. 

The  Honorable  Carl  Schurz,  as  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  and -nominally  at  the  head  of  Indian  affairs, 
had  visited  upon  his  undeserving  head  the  odium  of 
the  whole  Ponca  business.  His  open  letters  to  Gov- 
ernor Long,  Senator  Dawes,  and  Mrs.  Helen  Jack- 
son (the  author  of  "  Ramona  "  and  "  A  Century  of 
Dishonor  ")  are  laden  with  his  tale  of  personal  woe. 
They  reveal  an  able  advocate  with  a  pitifully  weak 
case,  but  he  valiantly  makes  the  best  of  it.  Here  are 
a  few  fragments  from  a  letter  to  Governor  Long: 

"  The  old  Ponca  reserve  in  southeastern  Dakota, 
a  tract  of  96,000  acres,  was  confirmed  to  that  tribe 
by  various  treaties.  In  1868  a  treaty  was  concluded 
with  the  Sioux  by  which  a  reservation  was  granted 
to  them,  including  the  tract  which  formerly  had  by 
treaty  been  confirmed  to  the  Poncas.  The  Sioux 
treaty  of  1868  was  ratified  in  the  usual  way  and 
became  the  law  of  the  land.  The  Poncas,  however, 
continued  to  occupy  the  ceded  tract.'.' 

So  the  Sioux  treaty  became  the  law  of  the  land. 
What  became  of  the  Ponca  treaty?  This  raises  a 
question :  If  the  Government  confirms  a  tract  of  land 
to  one  tribe,  then  unwittingly  deeds  it  to  another 
tribe,  which  gets  the  land?  Justice  might  point  to 
the  first  tribe.  The  Government,  with  the  power  to 
deliver  to  either,  seems  to  have  taken  its  choice. 

The  Secretary's  personal  defence  is  the  only  con- 
189 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

vincing  feature  in  the  correspondence.  He  shows 
clearly  that  the  whole  scheme  involving  the  Ponca 
removal  was  laid  by  the  preceding  administration, 
although  consummated  immediately  after  he  took 
office.  Of  this  he  says : 

"  The  removal  itself,  in  pursuance  of  the  law 
quoted,  was  effected  a  very  short  time  after  I  took 
charge  of  my  present  position,  when,  I  will  frankly 
admit,  I  was  still  compelled  to  give  my  whole  at- 
tention to  the  formidable  task  of  acquainting  myself 
with  the  vast  and  complicated  machinery  of  the 
Interior  Department.  If  at  some  future  day  you, 
Governor,  should  be  made  Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
you  will  find  what  that  means ;  and  although  you 
may  accomplish  it  in  a  shorter  time  than  I  did,  yet 
you  will  have  to  pass  through  some  strange  experi- 
ences during  the  first  six  months." 

In  view  of  the  subsequent  career  of  the  distin- 
guished Governor,  this  friendly  warning  is  rather 
interesting.  But  there  is  a  depth  of  meaning  in  the 
secretary's  admission.  When  revolting  tales  come 
from  the  realm  of  the  Czar  of  remorseless  cruelties, 
of  stifled  justice,  and  hopeless  exile,  the  world  is 
now  enough  enlightened  to  say,  "  'T  is  not  the  Czar 
—  look  to  the  bureaucracy."  So,  in  the  land  of  the 
Noble  Free;  secretaries  may  come  to  grope  their 
uncertain  way,  and  secretaries  may  go  with  the 
passing  of  the  presidents,  but  the  bureaucracy  sits 
tight  at  the  public  crib,  guiding  unseen  the  affairs 

190 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

of    state.      "  'T  is    not    the    Czar  —  look    to    the 
bureaucracy." 

But  as  an  apologist  Secretary  Schurz  lapses  into 
the  mediocre.  Of  that  terrible  winter  for  the  Poncas, 
when  an  inquisition  of  months  wrung  "  consent " 
from  one  hundred  and  seventy  of  them,  he  says: 

"  As  to  the  measures  taken  by  Mr.  Kemble  to 
obtain  what  he  represented  as  the  consent  of  the 
Poncas  to  the  relinquishment  of  their  lands  and 
their  removal  to  the  Indian  Territory,  it  may  be 
said  that  he  followed  a  course  which  unfortunately 
had  been  frequently  taken  before  him  on  many  oc- 
casions. Having  been  a  man  of  military  training, 
he  may  have  been  rather  inclined  to  summary 
methods;  moreover,  it  is  probable  that  as  the  Ponca 
reserve  had  been  ceded  to  the  Sioux  by  the  treaty 
of  1868,  and  as  Congress  had  provided  also  that  the 
Sioux  should  be  removed  to  the  Missouri  River, 
and  the  Sioux  were  the  same  year  to  occupy  that 
part  of  the  country,  the  removal  of  the  Poncas  may 
have  appeared  to  Mr.  Kemble  a  necessity,  in  order 
to  prevent  a  collision  between  them  and  the  Sioux 
which  would  have  been  highly  detrimental  to  both." 

As  it  was  the  pre-arranged  intention  to  remove 
the  Black  Hills  Sioux  directly  into  the  Ponca  houses, 
an  inspector  even  less  astute  than  Mr.  Kemble  might 
have  perceived  the  "  necessity  "  of  getting  the  Poncas 
out  of  the  way.  It  was  his  business  to  gain,  not  ask 
for,  the  Indian  consent. 

191 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

The  question  of  the  Poncas'  fundamental  right  to 
their  old  homes  is  buried  under  a  mass  of  argument 
against  their  restoration  on  the  ground  of  inexpe- 
diency, none  of  which  is  convincing.  The  terrible 
Sioux  bogey  appears  again ;  but  Spotted  Tail  dwelt  as 
unwillingly  in  the  homes  of  the  Poncas  as  the  Poncas 
remained  in  the  South.  He  remained  there  a  few 
months ;  then,  long  before  the  Poncas  had  ceased  to  beg 
for  their  return,  Spotted  Tail  peremptorily  ordered  his 
Great  Father  to  take  his  people  back  to  their  old  home, 
on  pain  of  another  Sioux  war.  Within  ten  days  the 
wily  old  chief's  camp  was  on  wheels,  merrily  rolling 
toward  the  Rosebud  country.  Spotted  Tail,  gentle 
reader,  was  a  Big  Chief  in  the  Sioux  nation. 

Here  is  a  miserable  excuse  of  the  Secretary  for 
a  great  nation  to  lean  upon: 

"  But  another  difficulty  arose  of  a  grave  nature : 
the  invasion  of  the  Indian  Territory  by  white  in- 
truders striving  to  obtain  possession  of  certain  lands 
in  the  Indian  Territory  held  for  Indian  settlement 
in  that  region,  of  which  the  present  Ponca  reserva- 
tion forms  a  part.  .  .  .  The  lands  coveted  by  the 
invaders  are  held  against  the  intrusion  on  the  ground 
that  they  are  reserved  for  Indian  settlement.  It  is 
important,  therefore,  that  the  Indian  settlements  ac- 
tually on  such  lands  should  remain  there  at  least 
while  the  Indian  Territory  is  in  danger.  To  take 
away  the  existing  Indian  settlements  from  those  lands 
under  such  circumstances  would  very  much  weaken 

192 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

the  position  of  the  Government  defending  them,  and 
encourage  the  invasion." 

To  preserve  the  public  domain  from  invasion  by 
a  few  lawless  frontiersmen,  —  a  melancholy  service 
for  a  handful  of  half-dead  Indians  who  had  once 
"  stood  as  a  barrier  between  the  hostile  Indian  and 
the  white  settler  upon  the  frontier  " ! 

And  here  is  another: 

"If  the  Poncas  were  now  taken  from  those  lands 
and  returned  to  Dakota,  this  very  fact  would  un- 
doubtedly make  other  northern  Indians,  who  have 
been  taken  to  the  Indian  Territory,  restless  to  follow 
their  example,  such  as  the  Northern  Cheyennes  [fully 
fifty  per  cent  dead  —  one  hundred  and  fifty  killed  by 
soldiers  while  escaping  to  the  North] ,  the  Nez  Perces 
[thirty  per  cent  dead],  and  possibly  even  the  Paw- 
nees [over  eight  hundred  dead  out  of  2376].  Un- 
scrupulous white  men,  agents  of  the  invaders,  would 
be  quickly  on  hand  to  foment  this  tendency." 

The  Secretary  judged  the  temper  of  these  three 
tribes  with  "  deadly  "  accuracy.  They  really  might 
have  been  fired  with  a  desire  to  get  out  of  the  In- 
dian Territory. 

Did  ever  a  desperately  weak  case  seek  strength 
from  equally  desperate  argument? 

This  extraordinary  letter  called  forth  a  prompt 
reply  from  the  Boston  Committee,  signed  by  John  D. 
Long,  chairman.  Without  a  trace  of  personal  feel- 
ing, and  granting  the  sincerity  of  the  Secretary  in  his 
'3  193 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

views,  it  is  a  scathing  arraignment  of  the  whole  miser- 
able business.  One  characteristic  passage  will  suffice : 
"  First.  Did  you  commit  a  cruel  and  unlawful 
outrage  upon  the  Ponca  Indians  in  robbing  them  of 
their  homes?  To  which  you  have  already  answered, 
Yes.  Second.  Have  you  lifted  a  ringer  for  all  these 
three  years,  during  which  you  say  you  have  so  sin- 
cerely repented  your  error,  to  restore  them  to  their 
homes?  To  which  you  have  already  answered,  No. 
Third.  Will  you  not,  even  at  this  last  moment,  for 
the  sake  of  the  credit  of  the  administration  and  the 
country,  ascertain,  by  men  in  whom  the  Poncas  have 
confidence,  whether  those  who  are  still  in  the  Indian 
Territory  do  not  really  wish  —  having  full  knowl- 
edge that  the  way  is  cordially  open  to  them  —  to 
rejoin  the  hundred  or  more  who  have  escaped  and 
returned  to  Dakota?  And  if  they  do,  will  you  not 
ask  for  an  appropriation,  and  do  what  you  can  to 
restore  them,  also?  Can  you  not  apprehend  the  one 
fundamental  thing,  that  this  land  in  Dakota  is  theirs, 
theirs,  THEIRS?  We  beg  you  to  apply  to  their  case, 
not  the  wrench  of  a  '  policy,'  but  for  once  the  good 
old  golden  rule  —  not  always  bad,  even,  as  a  policy 
—  of  '  doing  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you.'  It  may  leave  the  constitutional  '  Indian 
Policy '  blotted  by  a  drop  of  the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness, but  it  will  leave  you  a  record  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  President  Hayes  upon  which  you  will  have 
no  more  sincere  congratulations  than  our  own." 

194 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

Secretary  Schurz  may  have  admitted  the  "  cruel 
and  unlawful  outrage,"  but  he  distinctly  proved  that 
he  was  not  primarily  responsible  for  it.  His  argu- 
ment leaves  no  question  of  the  sincerity  of  his  opinion 
that,  after  this  lapse  of  three  years,  the  happiness  and 
welfare  of  the  Poncas  could  best  be  served  by  estab- 
lishing them  fairly  and  permanently  upon  their  new 
reservation.  To  his  mind,  expediency  was  the  ques- 
tion of  the  hour.  The  original  sin  was  upon  the 
preceding  administration  and  had  become  immutable 
law.  That  was  his  reason  why,  for  three  years,  these 
helpless  Indians  were  left  to  die,  were  hounded  if 
they  escaped,  were  refused  their  piteous  request  to 
again  visit  their  Great  Father,  after  the  Spotted  Tail 
Sioux  had  left  the  old  Ponca  home  absolutely  va- 
cant. The  Government  had  blunderingly  given  the 
Ponca  lands  to  the  Sioux,  and  laws,  however  devil- 
ish, had  given  legal  color  to  the  Ponca  removal  be- 
fore he  came  into  office.  He  might  "  apprehend 
the  one  fundamental  thing,  that  this  land  in  Dakota 
is  theirs,  theirs,  THEIRS,"  and  only  wring  his  hands 
in  impotent  distress  over  conditions  beyond  his 
control. 

The  splendid  record  of  Mr.  Schurz  as  a  friend  of 
the  oppressed  forces  the  conclusion  that  he  really 
could  not  undo  a  villainy  when  once  fastened  upon 
the  Department.  Then,  what  unseen  force  comes 
out  from  the  iniquitous  depths  of  the  Indian  bureau 
to  turn  the  will  and  tie  the  hands  of  such  a  Secre- 

195 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

tary  of  the  Interior?  Does  the  underworld  supply 
"  the  voice  of  the  people,"  even  while  the  people 
protest?  There  is  more  of  concern  in  this  than  the 
mere  welfare  of  a  luckless  race. 

The  Ponca  agitation  finally  resulted  in  an  under- 
ground scheme  to  settle  the  questions  at  issue  and 
end  the  contest.  It  is  a  tale  of  chicanery  worthy  of 
the  Indian  bureau.  Observe  the  sequence  of  dates. 

On  October  25,  1880,  twenty  Ponca  chiefs  and 
head-men  in  the  Indian  Territory  affixed  their  marks 
to  this  statement,  and  their  agent  forwarded  it  to 
the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs: 

"  We,  the  undersigned,  chiefs  and  head-men  of  the 
Ponca  tribe  of  Indians,  realize  the  importance  of  set- 
tling all  our  business  with  the  Government.  Our 
young  men  are  unsettled  and  hard  to  control  while 
they  think  we  have  a  right  to  our  land  in  Dakota, 
and  our  tribe  will  not  be  finally  settled  until  we 
have  a  title  to  our  present  reservation  and  we  have 
relinquished  all  right  to  our  Dakota  land.  And  we 
earnestly  request  that  the  chiefs  of  the  Ponca  tribe 
of  Indians  be  permitted  to  visit  Washington  the 
coming  winter  for  the  purpose  of  signing  away  our 
right  to  all  land  in  Dakota  and  to  obtain  a  title  to 
our  present  reservation;  and  we  also  wish  to  settle 
our  Sioux  troubles  at  the  same  time.  We  make  the 
above  request,  as  we  desire  to  have  the  young  men 
of  our  tribe  become  settled  and  commence  to  work 
on  their  respective  claims. 

196 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

"  We  also  desire  to  make  this  visit  in  order  to 
convince  the  Government  that  it  is  our  intention  of 
remaining  where  we  are,  and  requesting  the  aid  of 
the  Government  in  obtaining  teams,  wagons,  harness, 
tools,  etc.,  with  which  to  work  our  land." 

Now  read  any  Indian  speech,  letter,  or  other  ut- 
terance; compare  with  the  phrasing  of  this;  study 
the  desires  herein  expressed  in  the  light  of  the  Ponca 
record;  then,  if  it  appears  reasonable  to  do  so,  be- 
lieve that  the  Indians  dictated  this  petition,  or  knew 
what  they  were  signing. 

The  next  move  was  calculated  to  throw  dust  into 
the  eyes  of  a  critical  public.  While  a  delegation  of 
Ponca  chiefs  was  being  piloted  to  Washington  to 
sign  away  their  Dakota  reservation,  the  President 
announced  the  appointment  of  a  commission: 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  December  18,  1880. 
"  I  request  the  following  gentlemen  to  proceed  to 
the  Indian  Territory  as  soon  as  may  be,  and,  after 
conference  with  the  Ponca  tribe  of  Indians,  to  as- 
certain the  facts  in  regard  to  their  recent  removal 
and  present  condition,  so  far  as  is  necessary  to  de- 
termine the  question  what  justice  and  humanity 
require  should  be  done  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  and  report  their  conclusions  and 
recommendations  in  the  premises:  Brig.-Gen.  George 
Crook,  U.  S.  A. ;  Brig.-Gen.  Nelson  A.  Miles, 

197 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

U.   S.  A.;    William  Stickney,  Washington,  D.   C; 
Walter  Allen,  Newton,  Mass. 

"  It  is  the  purpose  of  the  foregoing  request  to 
authorize  the  commission  to  take  whatever  steps 
may,  in  their  judgment,  be  necessary  to  enable  them 
to  accomplish  the  purpose  set  forth. 

"  General  Crook  is  authorized  to  take  with  him 
two  aides-de-camp  to  do  clerical  work. 

"  R.  B.  HAYES." 

The  champions  of  the  Ponca  cause  then  rested 
on  their  guns;  the  battle  seemed  half  won. 

On  December  28,  ten  days  later,  before  the  special 
commissioners  could  reasonably  have  reached  the 
Indian  Territory  on  their  mission  "  to  determine 
the  question  what  justice  and  humanity  require 
should  be  done  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,"  the  Ponca  chiefs  in  Washington  were  in- 
duced to  sign  away  all  their  right  and  title  to  the 
old  home  on  the  Missouri. 

Four  weeks  later  —  on  January  25,  1881 — the 
special  Commission  reported  to  the  President,  set- 
ting forth  the  wrongs  and  scattered  condition  of 
the  Poncas  —  some  being  on  the  old  Dakota  reserve 
—  and  recommended : 

"  That  an  allotment  of  160  acres  of  land  be  made 
to  each  man,  woman,  and  child  of  the  Ponca  tribe 
of  Indians,  said  lands  to  be  selected  by  them  on  their 
old  reservation  in  Dakota,  or  on  the  land  now  oc- 

198 


WHITE  SWAN,  PONCA  CHIEF 
(1877) 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

cupied  by  the  Ponca  Indians  in  the  Indian  Territory, 
within  one  year  from  the  passage  of  an  act  of  Con- 
gress granting  such  tracts  of  land.  That  until  the 
expiration  of  this  period  free  communication  be  per- 
mitted between  the  two  branches  of  the  tribe." 

This  is  followed  by  a  recommendation  of  generous 
appropriations  to  the  Poncas  pro  rata  in  whichever 
reserve  they  choose  to  locate,  and  that  the  question 
of  title  to  the  Ponca  land  be  at  once  settled.  Finally, 
for  the  special  purpose  of  re-establishing  the  Poncas 
in  their  old  home  on  the  Missouri: 

"  That  the  further  sum  of  not  less  than  $5,000 
be  appropriated  for  the  construction  of  comfortable 
dwellings,  and  not  more  than  $5,000  for  the  erec- 
tion of  a  school-house  for  the  Poncas  in  Nebraska 
and  Dakota,  and  that  suitable  persons  be  employed 
by  the  Government  for  their  instruction  in  religious, 
educational,  and  industrial  development,  and  to  super- 
intend, care  for,  and  protect  all  their  interests.  We 
respectfully  suggest  that  the  welfare  of  these  Indians 
requires  us  to  emphasize  the  necessity  of  prompt  ac- 
tion in  settling  their  affairs,  to  the  end  that  this 
long  pending  controversy  may  be  determined  accord- 
ing to  the  dictates  of  humanity  and  justice." 

On  March  3,  by  act  of  Congress,  provision  was 
ostensibly  made  for  carrying  out  the  various  recom- 
mendations of  the  Commission: 

"  For  the  purpose  of  enabling  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  to  indemnify  the  Ponca  tribe  of  Indians  for  . 

199 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

losses  sustained  by  them  in  consequence  of  their 
removal  to  the  Indian  Territory,  to  secure  to  them 
lands  in  severalty  on  either  the  old  or  new  reserva- 
tion, in  accordance  with  their  wishes,  and  to  settle 
all  matters  of  difference  with  these  Indians,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-five  thousand  dollars,  to  be  im- 
mediately available  and  to  be  expended  under  the 
direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  as  fol- 
lows," etc. 

Then  the  public  clamor  was  stilled.  Justice  had 
—  in  words  —  been  done.  But  against  this  seem- 
ing intent  of  the  Government  to  give  the  Poncas 
free  choice  to  locate  on  either  their  old  or  new 
reservation,  there  is  the  disturbing  knowledge  that 
the  Honorable  Commissioner  had,  weeks  before,  se- 
cured a  deed  of  relinquishment  from  the  Poncas  in 
the  Indian  Territory  to  their  old  reservation.  Now, 
what  provision  was  made,  in  the  settlement  of  the 
Sioux  treaty  blunder,  for  the  return  of  Poncas  still 
in  the  Indian  Territory? 

On  August  20,  of  the  same  year,  an  agreement 
was  entered  into  with  the  Sioux: 

'  The  said  tribes  of  Sioux  Indians  do  hereby  cede 
and  relinquish  to  the  United  States  so  much  of  that 
portion  of  the  present  Sioux  reservation  as  was  for- 
merly occupied  by  the  Ponca  tribe  of  Indians,  set 
forth  and  described  by  the  supplemental  treaty  be- 
tween the  United  States  of  America  and  the  Ponca 
tribe  of  Indians  concluded  March  10,  1865  (14  Stats., 

200 


The  Removal  of  the  Poncas 

675),  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  settlement  of  that 
portion  of  the  Ponca  tribe  under  Standing  Bear  now 
on  or  residing  near  the  old  Ponca  reservation,  for 
their  use  and  occupation,  in  the  proportion  and  to 
the  extent  of  as  many  tracts  of  640  acres  each  as 
there  are  heads  of  families  and  male  members  now 
of  the  age  of  twenty-one  years  and  upwards  and 
unmarried." 

No  provision  whatever  was  made  for  any  Ponca 
Indians  except  those  "  under  Standing  Bear  now  on 
or  residing  near  the  old  Ponca  reservation."  No- 
where is  there  a  line  to  indicate  that  the  act  of 
Congress  providing  for  their  return  was  ever  com- 
municated to  the  Poncas.  The  official  count  two 
years  later  shows  a  net  gain  of  twelve  in  the  In- 
dian Territory,  while  the  Poncas  on  the  old  reserve 
barely  hold  their  own.  Not  one  Ponca  was  returned 
to  the  Missouri.  The  numbers  remain  in  about  the 
same  proportion  to  this  day.  The  Ponca  country 
was  cleared  of  Indians,  with  the  exception  of  Stand- 
ing Bear's  band,  and  in  a  few  years  was  opened  to 
settlement. 

This  is  the  story  of  the  Ponca  removal,  with  in- 
evitable sidelights  on  the  Poncas'  guardian.  Whom 
do  the  facts  concern  more  —  the  Poncas  or  the 
guardian  ? 


201 


THE    MISSION    INDIANS 

"  This  class  of  Indians  seems  forcibly  to  illustrate  the  truth  that  no 
man  has  a  place  or  a  fair  chance  to  exist  under  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  who  has  not  a  part  in  it."  Hon.  Commissioner  of  Indian 
Affairs,  18^4.. 

SOME    half-dozen    years    before    the    birth    of 
American  Independence  the  Franciscan  monks 
founded,  under  the  protection  of  the  Spanish 
Government,  the  first  of  the  famous  Indian  Missions 
in  what  is  now  Southern  California.    These  worldly- 
wise  missionaries  gradually  extended  their  establish- 
ments northward,  and  in  the  memorable  year   1776 
they  attained  their  northernmost  point  in  the  build- 
ing of  the   Dolores   Mission   near   the  present   city 
of  San  Francisco. 

The  sites  of  these  old  missions  indicate  clearly  that 
while  the  Franciscans  may  have  had  first  in  mind 
the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  native  peoples,  they  were 
also  adepts  in  the  art  of  husbandry  and  in  the  selec- 
tion of  locations  for  the  practice  of  it.  Their  system 
of  Indian  control  points  as  well  to  a  division  of 
their  thought  between  the  welfare  of  their  child-like 
charges  and  their  own  material  prosperity.  It  is 
certain  that  under  the  direction  of  the  Fathers  many 
thousands  of  the  Indians  became  Christians,  learned 

202 


The  Mission  Indians 

the  arts,  and  adopted  the  ways  of  civilization  to  an 
extent  which  raised  them  greatly  above  their  nomadic 
kinsmen  of  the  North.  They  lived  in  houses  on  the 
mission  lands,  which  were  at  least  considered  as  their 
permanent  homes  and  descended  along  family  lines 
much  as  in  more  highly  organized  communities.  It 
is  also  certain  that  the  carefully  trained  labor  of 
the  Indians  was  utilized  by  the  shrewd  monks  to 
add  a  wealth  of  highly  cultivated  lands,  produce, 
cattle,  and  sheep  to  their  various  missions.  The 
title  to  the  land  seems  to  have  generally,  if  not 
always,  rested  in  the  Fathers,  while  the  valuable  ac- 
cumulation of  chattels  was  held  in  a  more  or  less 
modified  communism,  with  the  property  rights  greatly 
in  favor  of  the  Franciscans. 

For  fifty  years  the  Franciscan  missions  flourished 
under  the  protection  of  Spain  in  a  manner  befitting 
an  institution  of  such  marked  benefit  to  both  the 
Indians  and  their  instructors.  If  the  labor  were  not 
altogether  one  of  self-sacrifice,  nothing  less  than  a 
goodly  endowment  of  religious  zeal  could  have  held 
these  educated  men  in  utter  isolation  among  an  un- 
lettered, inferior  people.  As  we  look  back  upon  the 
work  of  these  men  and  view  the  stability  of  the 
old  mission  edifices  which  still  stand  in  the  most 
fertile  spots  in  Southern  California,  justice,  more 
than  charity,  compels  the  clear  recognition  of  their 
devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  as  first,  and 
above  all  else,  with  a  material  prosperity  as  inci- 

203 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

dental,  —  a  prosperity  justified,  deserved,  and  shared 
liberally  with  their  Indian  wards.  The  frequent 
aspersions  cast  upon  the  motives  of  these  first  pio- 
neers are  largely  due  to  the  frivolous  habit  of  be- 
grudging all  missionaries  everything  more  than  the 
barest  means  of  existence,  as  though  constant  attend- 
ance upon  want  and  hardship  were  a  portion  of  their 
mission. 

But  with  the  independence  of  Mexico  in  1822  came 
the  undoing  of  the  Franciscan  missions.  The  Spanish 
governmental  favor  under  which  they  had  prospered 
for  a  half-century  was  lost  to  them ;  the  Mexican 
attitude  became  one  of  distinct  hostility.  If  this 
were  to  be  a  story  of  Mexican  misrule  it  would  call 
for  more  than  the  mere  statement  that  within  fifteen 
years  the  last  of  the  Franciscan  missions  ceased  as 
an  organization  of  the  Franciscan  monks,  but  for 
our  purpose  the  bare  recital  of  fact  suffices. 

With  the  passing  of  the  Franciscans  the  mission 
lands  were  in  many  cases  allotted  in  parcels  to  the 
Indians  living  on  them ;  in  other  instances  no  record 
appears  of  any  Indian  title  beyond  the  possessory 
title  which  comes  from  generations  of  occupancy. 
Although  deprived  of  much  needed  protection,  the 
Mission  Indians  continued  to  live  on  and  cultivate 
their  lands,  while  a  few  remaining  zealous  adherents 
of  the  faith  kept  them  together  and  attended  their 
spiritual  and  temporal  wants  as  best  they  could. 

The  latest  of  the  old  Mexican  records  shows  about 
204 


The  Mission  Indians 

twenty  thousand  baptized,  registered  Indians.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  more  than  two-thirds  of  this  num- 
ber were  actually  attached  to  the  missions  in  the 
sense  of  having  permanent  homes  upon  them.  Dur- 
ing the  fifteen  years  which  elapsed  between  the  final 
dismemberment  of  the  missions  and  the  acquisition 
of  California  by  the  United  States  in  1848,  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  about  half  of  the  Mission  Indians  were 
driven  from  their  lands  by  venturesome  Mexicans 
who  coveted  their  valuable  homes.  However  accu- 
rate this  estimate  may  be,  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment found  in  its  new  domain  some  seven  thousand 
of  these  Indians  still  peacefully  occupying  the  old 
mission  lands,  and  cultivating  the  same  parcels  which 
had  been  the  homes  of  their  fathers  and  grandfathers 
before  them.  The  earliest  United  States  Government 
report  of  the  Mission  Indians  appears  in  1851: 

"  At  the  close  of  the  Mexican  war  some  of  these 
old  Mission  Indians  remained  in  possession  of  lands 
under  written  grants  from  the  Mexican  Government. 
Some  have  sold  out,  others  have  been  elbowed  off 
by  white  men.  All  are  now  waiting  the  adjudica- 
tion of  the  commissioner  of  land  titles.  Many  of 
them  are  good  citizens  in  all  respects  save  the  right 
to  vote  and  be  witnesses.  They  are  anxious  to  hold 
their  title  homesteads  and  resist  all  offers  to  buy 
as  steadily  as  they  can.  How  long  their  limited 
shrewdness  can  match  the  overreaching  cupidity  that 
ever  assails  them  it  is  difficult  to  say. 

205 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  They  lack  thrift,  incline  to  dissolute  habits,  yet 
plant  regularly  year  by  year,  and  have  small  stocks 
of  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep.  A  better  crop  and  more 
commodious  huts,  a  few  chairs,  and  a  table  distin- 
guish them  from  the  mountain  villages;  still,  they 
have  made  a  broad  step  towards  civilization.  Cus- 
tom has  always  allowed  them  ardent  spirits,  from 
which  lamentable  practice  not  even  the  missionaries 
can  be  excepted.  The  laws  of  nature  have  had  their 
course,  and  the  Indian  is  paying  the  penalty  of  all 
who  violate  them.  Three  years  ago  they  were  prac- 
tically slaves.  American  freedom  does  not  profit 
them.  They  soon  fall  into  the  bad  ways  of  their 
Christian  neighbors.  American  rule  and  American 
liberty,  which  have  come  to  them  and  overthrown 
the  church,  have  given  them  the  white  man's  habits 
of  dissipation,  and  they  are  disgusted  with  prospects 
of  civilized  life." 

Sixty  years  of  Franciscan  dominion  had  served  to 
differentiate  these  Indians  from  all  other  Indians  in 
the  great  western  country;  they  presented  an  aspect 
of  Indian  life  entirely  new  to  the  advancing  hosts 
of  Uncle  Sam.  But  sixty  years  under  paternal 
guardianship  had  left  them  unassertive,  dependent 
without  those  upon  whom  to  depend,  and  wholly 
unprepared  to  cope  with  the  persistent  American 
frontiersman.  The  system  from  which  they  had 
derived  their  great  benefits  developed  rather  than 
overcame  the  Indians'  one  great  weakness,  —  their 

206 


The  Mission  Indians 

child-like  dependence  upon  the  guiding  hand  of  a 
stronger  people. 

"  Wherever,  in  California,"  says  one  of  the  earlier 
Government  reports,  "  an  Indian  is  discovered  supe- 
rior to  the  mass  of  his  fellows,  it  will  be  found, 
with  scarce  an  exception,  that  he  speaks  Spanish 
(not  English),  from  which  it  may  be  safely  inferred 
that  he  was  once  attached  to  some  mission.  There 
is  about  the  same  difference  between  these  Mission 
Indians  and  the  wild  tribes  as  there  is  between  the 
educated  American  negro  and  a  wild  African ;  these 
have  both  undergone  the  same  process,  and  with 
very  nearly  the  same  results." 

If  the  Mission  Indian  question  appeared  to  the 
Government  as  a  novel  one,  the  attitude  of  the 
Government  toward  the  Mission  Indians  was  no  less 
unique.  From  the  earliest  times  it  had  been  the 
custom  of  the  Government  to  recognize  in  the  wild, 
nomadic  tribes  a  possessory  right  to  their  vast 
hunting-grounds  which  required  extinguishment  by 
treaty  and  by  purchase.  For  a  more  or  less  (usu- 
ally less)  valuable  consideration  the  aborigines  had 
been  induced  to  recede  before  the  white  population, 
but  always  with  at  least  the  color  of  a  bargain. 

But  the  rights  of  the  Mission  Indians  were  sum- 
marily disposed  of  in  an  astonishing  manner  by  this 
decision  of  a  committee  of  the  United  States  Senate : 
"  that  the  United  States,  acquiring  possession  of  the 
territory  from  Mexico,  succeeded  to  its  rights  in  the 

207 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

soil;  and  as  that  Government  regarded  itself  as 
the  absolute  and  unqualified  owner  of  it,  and  held 
that  the  Indian  had  no  usufructuary  or  other  rights 
therein  which  were  to  be  in  any  manner  respected, 
they,  the  United  States,  were  under  no  obligations 
to  treat  with  the  Indians  occupying  the  same  for 
the  extinguishment  of  their  title."  Thus  it  happened 
that  the  Indians,  who  had,  according  to  generally 
accepted  views  as  to  the  rights  acquired  by  long- 
continued  occupancy  and  cultivation,  the  best  right 
of  all  Indians  to  the  land  of  their  ancestors,  were 
to  receive  from  the  Government  not  even  the  color 
of  recognition.  In  all  the  great  book  of  Indian 
treaties,  there  is  not  one  treaty  or  agreement  with 
the  Mission  Indians.  They  had  nothing  for  which 
to  treat. 

Under  these  conditions  the  Mission  Indians  were 
delivered  to  the  tender  mercies  of  the  never-to-be- 
stopped  pioneer  at  a  time  when  great  discoveries  of 
placer  gold  had  brought  hordes  of  more  than  usu- 
ally adventurous  and  reckless  prospectors  into  the 
new  country.  No  attitude  of  the  Government  toward 
the  Indians  could  have  better  pleased  the  on-coming 
white  men. 

"  In  accordance  with  this  view,"  writes  a  special 
commissioner,  "  the  assumed  Indian  title  has  always 
been  disregarded  by  the  land-officers  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  this  district,  and  by  settlers.  As  expressed 
by  the  present  register  of  the  land-office,  the  location 

208 


The  Mission  Indians 

of  an  Indian  family  or  families  on  land  upon  which 
a  white  man  desires  to  settle  is,  in  law,  no  more  a 
bar  to  such  settlement  than  would  be  the  presence 
of  a  stray  sheep  or  cow.  And  so,  like  sheep  or 
cattle,  they  have  been  too  often  driven  from  their 
homes  and  their  cultivated  fields,  the  Government, 
through  its  officers,  refusing  to  hear  their  protests, 
as  though  in  equity  as  well  as  in  law  they  had  no 
rights  in  the  least  deserving  consideration." 

The  story  of  the  Mission  Indians  is  best  told  in 
the  annual  reports  of  the  Indian  Office.  It  is  a  tale 
too  incredible  to  be  told  in  any  other  way. 

"  The  Coahuilas,  of  San  Timoteo,  during  the  exist- 
ence of  the  smallpox  two  or  three  years  ago,  fled 
in  dismay,  leaving  their  lands,  not  with  the  inten- 
tion of  abandoning  them,  but  from  fear  of  the  epi- 
demic. The  white  settlers  near  the  Indian  lands 
immediately  took  forcible  possession  of  them,  and 
have  positively  refused  to  give  them  up.  It  is  of  the 
utmost  importance  that  immediate  steps  be  taken  to 
examine  fully  into  this  matter,  to  the  end  that  strict 
and  impartial  justice  be  done  in  the  premises.  .  .  . 

"  Some  nine  miles  from  Temecula  is  a  place  called 
Pajamo.  When  the  Indians  left  this  place  for  their 
summer  grounds,  a  number  of  villainous  Americans, 
headed  by  two  men  named  Breeze  and  Woolfe, 
burned  the  Indian  houses  or  '  jacablo,'  and  then 
took  forcible  possession  of  their  lands  and  ditches. 
This  is  the  complaint  made  by  the  Indians,  and  it 
14  209 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

is  substantiated  by  the  whites.     Justice  demands  a 
full  and  impartial  investigation  of  this  matter.  .  .  . 

"  During  the  last  year,  in  several  instances,  the 
whites  have  induced  Indians  to  abandon  their  little 
farms  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  possession  them- 
selves; as  an  inducement  giving  them  trifling  pres- 
ents. I  told  the  Indians,  by  doing  so,  they  could 
never  again  occupy  their  lands,  and  consequently 
would  be  without  homes  for  their  families,  and  told 
them  they  ought  not  to  sell  or  give  up  their  farms 
to  any  one. 

"  The  fact  is,  however,  the  whites  are  pushing 
back  on  the  frontier,  and  unless  lands  are  reserved 
for  the  use  of  the  Indians,  soon  they  will  have  no 
place  to  live.  .  .  . 

"  I  have  been  acting  as  special  agent  for  the  Mis- 
sion and  Coahuila  Indians  five  years,  and  during 
that  time  have  forwarded  to  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  at  Washington  detailed  reports  of  the 
conditions  and  wants  of  the  Indians  of  Southern 
California,  showing  the  number  and  locality  of  each 
tribe,  recommending  the  establishment  of  a  reserva- 
tion to  which  the  Indians  could  be  taken  as  they 
became  crowded  out  of  their  homes  by  the  white 
settlers. 

"  I  presume  that  one  reason  why  nothing  has  been 
done  for  these  Indians  is,  they  have  been  peaceable 
and  caused  the  Government  no  trouble,  and  conse- 
quently have  been  almost  entirely  neglected." 

210 


The  Mission  Indians 

Every  report  urges  the  necessity  of  reserves  for 
the  Mission  Indians,  to  include  especially  the  lands 
on  which  their  villages  are  located.  Naturally,  every 
instinct  of  the  voting  white  population  opposed  such 
a  waste  of  the  public  domain.  But  finally,  after 
twenty  years,  the  first  Indian  reserve  was  set  apart 
for  the  Mission  Indians,  —  a  large  tract  in  the  San 
Pasqual  Valley,  including  the  Indian  village,  or  ran- 
cheria,  of  San  Pasqual.  The  frantic  demonstrations 
of  the  outraged  settlers  against  this  usurpation  of 
their  right  to  the  whole  country  are  more  than 
hinted  at  in  the  agent's  report: 

"  On  the  2d  of  April,  1870,  the  reservation  order 
was  received,  and  the  office  of  the  agency  was  moved 
to  San  Pasqual  Valley  reservation,  when  I  learned 
that  the  settlers  had  employed  counsel  to  have  the 
order  set  aside,  had  also  enlisted  the  sympathy  and 
co-operation  of  the  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
county  in  their  favor,  and  that  the  editors  of  San 
Diego  were  publishing  some  most  wonderful  curi- 
osities in  the  way  of  newspaper  incendiary  litera- 
ture, in  no  manner  calculated  to  throw  oil  on  the 
troubled  waters.  I  also  found  the  Indians  had  been 
told  '  they  were  to  be  made  slaves  of  by  the  Gov- 
ernment; smallpox  was  to  be  introduced  in  the 
clothing  sent  them;  their  cattle  were  to  be  taken 
from  them ; '  and  to  such  an  extent  had  they  been 
tampered  with,  that  they  positively  refused  to  locate 
on  the  lands  set  apart  and  secured  for  their  especial 

211 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

use  and  benefit.  The  parties  tampering  with  the 
Indians  I  have  classified  as  follows: 

"  ist,  settlers  on  the  reservations;  2d,  settlers  in 
the  vicinage;  3d,  men  living  with  Indian  women; 
4th,  persons  employing  Indian  labor  at  little  or  no 
wages;  5th,  politicians  after  votes;  6th,  lawyers 
after  fees  in  contingency;  7th,  vagabonds  generally. 
I  can  safely  assert  that  not  one  in  the  above-enu- 
merated classes  has  the  true  interests  of  the  Indian 
at  heart,  but  is  actuated  by  motives  personal  or 
those  of  a  friend.  .  .  . 

"  The  Indian  law  prevailing  in  this  agency  is 
exceedingly  doubtful,  uncertain,  and  unjust  in  its 
workings.  The  townships  contiguous  to  the  reser- 
vations, viz.,  Agua  Caliente,  Temecula,  and  Santa 
Isabel,  have  no  justices  of  the  peace,  and  have  had 
none  for  many  years.  It  does  appear  to  me  that 
there  is  a  chronic  indisposition  on  the  part  of  the 
people  of  Southern  California  to  having  a  duly 
constituted  judiciary.  The  nearest  court  of  justice 
is  in  one  direction,  San  Luis  Rey,  some  twenty 
miles,  and  in  San  Diego,  about  thirty-four  miles. 
I  would  therefore  recommend  that  some  provision 
of  law  may  be  devised  whereby  the  agent  may  be 
empowered  to  exercise  the  functions  of  a  justice  of 
the  peace,  and  that  something  similar  to  a  garrison 
or  regimental  court  might  be  authorized  for  the 
trial  of  light  offences,  the  captains  and  principal 
men  to  compose  the  court,  the  findings  of  said  court 

212 


The  Mission  Indians 

to  be  submitted  to  the  agent  for  his  approval,  or 
otherwise. 

"  The  settlers  on  the  reservation  are  making  no 
preparations  to  move  on  the  ist  of  September 
proximo,  as  ordered  by  the  superintendent  of  Indian 
affairs,  State  of  California.  As  all  the  available 
land  is  taken  up  by  the  settlers  on  the  reservations, 
I  would  respectfully  ask,  Where  am  I  to  locate  the 
Indians  if  they  should  conclude  to  come  in  after 
this  date?  .  .  . 

"  San  Pasqual  rancheria,  on  San  Pasqual  Valley 
reservation,  is  located  on  less  than  a  quarter-section 
of  land;  even  this  is  partitioned  among  the  set- 
tlers, who  are  only  restrained  by  fear  of  the  Gov- 
ernment from  taking  possession  at  once  and  driving 
the  Indians  therefrom." 

The  story  of  San  Pasqual  Village  is  typical  of  all 
the  Mission  Indian  rancherias.  The  agent's  serious 
statement  of  the  conditions  there  counted  as  nothing 
against  the  efforts  of  the  Vociferous  Few.  Did 
ever  the  vote-seeking  Uncle  Sam  let  pass  unheeded 
the  clamor  of  his  Chosen?  Within  a  year  the 
President  revoked  the  order  establishing  the  Indian 
reserve,  and  once  more  the  gentle  white  man  was 
at  liberty  to  push  the  Indian  further  up  into  the 
canyons.  In  the  next  report  the  agent  recounts  the 
manner  of  it: 

"  San  Pasqual  and  Pala  were  established  as  In- 
dian pueblos  under  the  secularization  law  of  1834. 

213 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

These  lands  had  long  been  occupied  by  the  Christian 
Indians,  and  in  1835  were  divided  among  them  by 
the  priests  and  prefect  in  accordance  with  said  laws, 
and  were  occupied  by  them  until  dispossessed  by 
squatters  within  the  last  few  years.  .  .  . 

"  The  possessory  claim  of  the  Indians  to  land  has 
never  been  deemed  a  serious  impediment  to  white 
settlers;  the  latter  always  take  by  force  that  which 
they  fail  to  obtain  by  persuasion. 

"  Conceiving  that  this  state  of  things  would  ulti- 
mately leave  the  Mission  Indians  homeless,  I  recom- 
mended in  my  annual  report  for  1869  '  that  certain 
lands  at  Pala  and  San  Pasqual  Valleys,  in  San 
Diego  County,  which  had  been  given  to  the  Indians 
by  the  Mexican  Government,  be  removed  from  public 
sale,  surveyed,  and  set  apart  as  a  reservation.'  I 
stated  '  that  the  Indian  claims  to  these  lands  had 
never  been  presented  to  the  board  of  land  commis- 
sioners appointed  under  the  act  of  1851  to  settle 
private  land  claims  in  California,  and  were  conse- 
quently disregarded  by  the  settlers,  the  lands  being 
presumptively  a  part  of  the  public  domain.' 

"On  the  3ist  of  January,  1870,  pursuant  to  this 
recommendation  and  a  similar  suggestion  made  by 
J.  B.  Mclntosh,  then  acting  as  superintendent  of 
Indian  Affairs  for  California,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  made  an  order  setting  apart  those 
lands  for  an  Indian  reservation,  and  a  proclamation 
was  issued  to  that  effect. 

214 


The  Mission  Indians 

"  The  settlers,  coveting  the  valleys,  formed  an 
organization  against  this  movement.  They  em- 
ployed counsel  at  home  and  in  Washington  _to  draw 
up  and  present  to  our  Representatives  in  Congress 
and  the  President  of  the  United  States  papers  fal- 
sifying facts,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  revo- 
cation of  the  order. 

"  I  am  informed  by  Indians,  and  by  white  men 
of  great  respectability,  that  a  notorious  monte-dealer 
by  the  name  of  McCan,  residing  at  New  San  Diego, 
prepared  a  remonstrance  against  the  reservation,  and, 
with  the  assistance  of  two  others,  attached  to  it  sev- 
eral hundred  names  (Indian  and  Mexican),  and 
transmitted  it  to  Washington.  Some  of  these  names 
were  collected  from  old  church  records,  and  were 
the  names  of  Indians  and  Mexicans  who  had  been 
dead  for  years;  and  none  of  them,  if  I  am  cor- 
rectly informed,  were  written  or  authorized  by  the 
parties  to  whom  they  belonged.  McCan  subsequently 
boasted  of  his  success,  and  the  facility  with  which 
so  many  signatures  and  marks  could  be  made  by 
three  scribes  only.  For  this  valuable  service  McCan 
received  $40  from  Olegario,  $20  from  Manuel  Largo, 
and  smaller  sums  from  various  other  mountain  In- 
dians, who  had  become,  through  false  representa- 
tions of  the  settlers,  opposed  to  a  reservation.  This, 
with  other  documents  of  a  kindred  nature,  was  taken 
to  Washington  by  Ben.  C.  Truman,  and  on  the  i/th 
day  of  February,  1871,  the  order  of  the  President 

215 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

was  revoked,  and  the  special  agent  for  the  Mission 
Indians  soon  after  dismissed." 

Did  this  recital  rouse  the  Government  to  a  restora- 
tion of  the  Indian  lands?  Did  ever  recitals  of 
fiendish  acts  in  the  Indian  country  stir  the  Govern- 
ment to  any  action  opposed  to  the  wishes  of  the 
almighty  voter? 

Two  years  later  another  special  agent  continues 
the  sad  story  of  San  Pasqual : 

"  I  reached  San  Pasqual  on  the  I5th  instant,  from 
Pawai,  where  you  were  yourself  detained.  I  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  the  house  of  Panto  Lion,  captain 
of  the  village,  and  requested  him  to  summon  his 
people  together  on  the  following  morning  for  a 
conference,  at  the  same  time  explaining  to  him  that 
we  had  been  sent  by  the  Government  at  Washing- 
ton to  inquire  into  their  condition  and  to  ascertain 
if  anything  could  be  done  by  the  Government  to 
aid  them. 

"  The  villagers  began  to  assemble  early.  At  the 
appointed  hour  the  captain  rose,  and  in  a  short 
speech  in  the  Indian  language,  which  seemed  to  be 
both  eloquent  and  well  appreciated,  gave  his  hearers 
to  understand  the  errand  upon  which  I  visited  them. 
A  lively  interest  was  manifested  by  every  one.  They 
complained  of  the  encroachments  of  their  American 
neighbors  upon  their  land,  and  pointed  to  a  house 
near  by,  built  by  one  of  the  more  adventurous  of 
his  class,  who  claimed  to  have  pre-empted  the  land 

216 


The  Mission  Indians 

upon  which  the  larger  part  of  the  village  lies.  On 
calling  upon  the  man  afterward,  I  found  that  such 
was  really  the  case,  and  that  he  had  actually  paid 
the  price  of  the  land  to  the  register  of  the  land- 
office  of  this  district,  and  was  daily  expecting  the 
patent  from  Washington.  He  owned  it  was  hard 
to  wrest  from  these  well-disposed  and  industrious 
creatures  the  homes  they  had  built  up.  '  But,'  said 
he,  '  if  I  had  not  done  it  somebody  else  would,  for 
all  agree  that  the  Indian  has  no  right  to  public 
lands.'  These  Indians  further  complain  that  settlers 
take  advantage  of  them  in  every  way  possible;  em- 
ploy them  to  work  and  insist  on  paying  them  in 
trifles  that  are  of  no  account  to  them ;  '  dock '  them 
for  imaginary  neglect,  or  fail  entirely  to  pay  them ; 
take  up  their  stock  on  the  slightest  pretext  and 
make  exorbitant  charges  for  damages  and  detention 
of  the  stock  seized.  They  are  in  many  cases  unable 
to  redeem  it.  They  have  therefore  little  encourage- 
ment to  work  or  to  raise  stock.  Nor  do  they  care 
to  plant  fruit-trees  or  grapevines  as  long  as  land 
thus  improved  may  be  taken  from  them,  as  has 
been  the  case  in  very  many  instances.  Among  the 
little  homes  included  in  the  pre-emption  claim  above 
referred  to  are  those  adorned  with  trees  and  vines. 
Instead  of  feeling  secure  and  happy  in  the  posses- 
sion of  what  little  is  left  to  them,  they  are  continu- 
ally filled  with  anxiety.  They  claim  that  they  ought 
to  be  allowed  to  remain  where  their  forefathers  have 

217 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

lived  for  so  long,  and  that  they  should  be  protected 
by  law  in  the  peaceful  possession  of  the  homes  that 
have  been  handed  down  to  them. 

"  I  asked  how  they  would  like  for  their  children 
to  go  to  school,  learn  to  speak  the  English  language, 
and  to  live  more  like  white  people.  It  would  be 
very  nice,  they  replied,  but  it  would  do  them  little 
good  if  they  could  not  have  their  homes  protected. 

"  I  asked  them  how  they  would  like  to  be  moved 
to  some  place  where  they  would  be  better  protected, 
have  ground  of  their  own  secured  to  them,  and  more 
comfortable  homes.  The  answer  was,  '  Our  fathers 
lived  and  died  here,  and  we  would  rather  live  here 
than  at  any  other  place.' ' 

Two  years  more,  and  another  agent  writes: 

"  The  valleys  of  San  Pasqual  and  Pala,  in  San 
Diego  County,  which  were  once  set  apart  for  a 
reservation  would  afford  good  homes  for  a  large 
part  of  the  people,  and  ought  to  be  restored  to  them. 
The  abolishment  of  this  reservation  four  years  ago 
was  secured  by  interested  parties,  through  a  shame- 
ful perversion  and  falsification  of  the  real  facts  of 
the  case  at  that  time,  and  the  Indians  yet  remain- 
ing in  these  valleys  are  being  shamefully  imposed 
upon  by  the  settlers." 

Then  San  Pasqual  disappears  from  the  records 
for  a  period  of  several  years.  It  has  officially  ceased 
to  exist.  But  in  1883  a  special  commissioner  writes 
the  final  chapter: 

218 


The  Mission  Indians 

"  This  San  Pasqual  village  was  a  regularly  or- 
ganized Indian  pueblo,  formed  by  about  one  hun- 
dred neophytes  of  the  San  Luis  Rey  Mission,  under 
and  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Secu- 
larization Act  in  1834.  The  record  of  its  founding 
is  preserved  in  the  Mexican  archives  at  San  Fran- 
cisco. .  .  .  There  is  now,  on  the  site  of  that  old 
Indian  pueblo,  a  white  settlement  numbering  thirty- 
five  voters.  The  Indians  are  all  gone,  —  some  to 
other  villages;  some  living  near  by  in  canyons  and 
nooks  in  the  hills,  from  which,  on  the  occasional 
visits  of  the  priest,  they  gather  and  hold  services 
in  the  half-ruined  adobe  chapel  built  by  them  in  the 
days  of  their  prosperity." 

Vale,  San  Pasqual! 

From  a  superficial  point  of  view  one  might  be 
led  to  think  that  the  Government  delighted  to  wit- 
ness the  slow  extinction  of  Indians  at  the  hands  of 
the  Faithful.  It  is  really  not  so.  The  officials  of 
the  Government  have  never  been  disposed  to  inflict 
unnecessary  torture  on  the  receding  Indian.  But 
their  very  official  existence  depends  upon  the  pleas- 
ure, not  of  the  whole  people  whom  they  are  sup- 
posed to  represent,  but  of  the  few  who  are  sufficiently 
interested  in  legislation  to  express  their  pleasure  or 
displeasure.  There  is  no  virtue,  in  the  official  mind, 
in  the  unexpressed  sentiment  of  a  great  order-  and 
justice-loving  people,  so  long  as  they  continue  to 
live  under  the  delusion  that  the  public  servants  are 

219 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

directing  the  public  business  with  due  regard  for 
the  national  honor. 

Thus  it  is  that  the  Vociferous  Few  —  they  may 
be  attending  the  vanishing  Indian  in  the  West,  or 
gathered  upon  velvet  in  the  effete  East  —  besmirch 
the  whole  official  mass,  and  color  national  legislation 
with  their  filthy  desires.  The  public  servants  can- 
not, under  the  Constitution,  get  above  the  level  of 
their  rulers. 

While  the  San  Pasqual  tragedy  was  being  en- 
acted, a  similar  affair  was  attempted  on  another 
California  reservation  which  illustrates  well  the 
prevailing  conditions: 

"  By  order  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
I  caused  two  suits  to  be  commenced  for  trespass  on 
lands  inside  of  the  reservation  fence.  I  expected  to 
be  able  to  test  the  validity  of  swamp-land  claims 
to  some  of  the  best  wheat-land  now  cultivated  on 
the  reservation.  Lobby  influence  at  Washington  was 
too  much  for  the  Indian  Department.  A  telegraph- 
order  from  the  United  States  Attorney-General's 
Office  to  L.  D.  Latimer,  United  States  district  at- 
torney, directed  that  officer  to  suspend  all  further 
proceedings  against  trespassers  on  the  Round  Valley 
reserve.  .  .  . 

"  The  Indian  Department  has  in  actual  possession 
and  under  fence  only  about  4,000  acres,  and  a  por- 
tion of  that  is  falsely  claimed  as  swamp-land.  The 
balance  of  the  valley  is  in  possession  of  settlers,  all 

220 


The  Mission  Indians 

clamorous  for  breaking  up  the  reservation  and  driv- 
ing the  Indians  away. 

"  It  is  useless  to  attempt  to  disguise  the  fact  that, 
so  long  as  these  settlers  have  a  voice  in  the  selection 
of  our  Representatives  to  Congress,  and  Indians  have 
none,  they  must  and  will  be  heard  at  Washington. 
I  would  say,  listen  to  them,  and  if  they  propose  a 
fair  compromise  of  a  vexed  question,  accede  to  it; 
but  if  they  are  fully  determined  to  drive  the  red 
man  from  the  face  of  the  earth,  without  a  hearing, 
and  without  bread  or  money,  stop  them  in  their 
mad  career,  and  say,  '  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and 
no  farther.'  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  Congress  to  act  in  this  matter  with  prompt- 
ness and  fidelity;  and  to  delay  action  would  be 
criminal." 

"  Thus  far  shalt  thou  go,  and  no  farther."  Impos- 
sible language  in  the  land  of  the  Free.  It  suggests 
a.  curtailment  of  personal  freedom.  A  Government 
slavishly  dependent  upon  the  expressed  will  of  the 
people  has  no  incentive  to  enforce  a  sustained, 
consistent  Indian  policy  opposed  to  local  interests, 
although  in  accord  with  the  perfectly  well  under- 
stood, but  unexpressed,  sentiment  of  the  great  body 
of  the  American  people.  It  cannot  afford  to  sacri- 
fice political  capital  by  administering  a  richly  de- 
served rebuke  in  one  quarter,  unless  it  thereby  makes 
an  equal  or  greater  gain  in  another  quarter.  To 
be  sure,  the  public  generously  applauds  a  righteous 

221 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

act  in  the  Indian  country,  but  the  public  remembers 
for  a  day,  while  the  interested  few  remember  until 
election  day.  To  this  psychological  fact  may  be 
charged  most  of  the  vicious  legislation  which  afflicts 
the  American  people. 

The  effect  of  this  political  cowardice  upon  the 
trespassing  settlers  is  pictured  in  the  same  report : 

"  Since  the  order  of  the  United  States  Attorney- 
General  to  suspend  all  legal  proceedings  against 
certain  trespassers  on  the  Round  Valley  reserva- 
tion, some  of  them  have  become  bold  and  insolent. 
Gates  and  fences  have  been  frequently  thrown  open. 
Indian  lodges,  established  at  the  gates  for  the  con- 
venience of  travellers  wishing  to  cross  the  reserva- 
tion, and  for  the  protection  of  growing  crops,  have 
been  wantonly  broken  up  by  ruffians.  The  Indians 
have  been  driven  off,  and  outside  stock  wickedly 
turned  into  the  reservation  inclosures,  there  to  riot 
in  growing  wheat,  oats,  and  corn,  some  of  which 
was  nearly  ripe  enough  to  cut.  There  are  many 
respectable  settlers  in  the  valley  who  abhor  this 
conduct,  and  would  gladly  see  the  culprits  brought 
to  a  just  punishment.  It  is  not,  however,  consid- 
ered a  safe  undertaking,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Indian  reservations  in  California,  for  a  good,  law- 
abiding  man  to  attempt  to  punish  a  bad  man  and 
a  law-breaker  by  habit  for  any  indignity  to  Indians 
or  those  having  them  in  charge.  .  .  . 

"  A  soldier  recently  murdered  an  Indian  in  his 
222 


The  Mission  Indians 

bed,  on  the  Hoopa  reservation.  It  is  said  to  have 
been  done  without  the  slightest  provocation.  No 
redress  can  be  had  in  Klamath  County.  Grand 
juries  have  repeatedly  refused  to  take  any  notice 
of  complaints  where  it  is  alleged  that  a  white 
man  killed  or  committed  any  other  wrong  upon  an 
Indian. 

"  It  is  no  longer  a  mooted  question  whether  bad 
white  men,  wilful  trespassers,  liquor-dealers,  mur- 
derers, thieves,  and  outlaws  shall  be  kept  off  and 
away  from  the  reservations,  but  rather,  shall  the 
reservations  be  permitted  or  kept  up  at  all? 

"  It  is  not  considered  a  crime  to  steal  horses  and 
cattle  in  Round  Valley,  so  long  as  they  are  taken 
from  the  Indian  reservation." 

This  was  the  condition  of  Indian  affairs  in  Cali- 
fornia twenty-five  years  after  the  United  States  Gov- 
ernment had  rescued  the  country  from  the  tyranny 
of  Mexico. 

Why  did  not  the  Indian,  in  this  land  where  "  all 
men  are  created  equal,"  possess  himself  of  the  magic 
vote  and  become  one  of  the  Chosen?  It  may  seem 
incredible  that  any  Indian  should  have  had  the 
temerity  to  face  the  conditions  which  surrounded 
the  precious  ballot,  but  the  fact  is  officially  recorded 
in  this  twenty-fifth  year: 

"  Three  Indians  at  least  have  recently  made  appli- 
cation to  be  registered  as  citizens  in  Los  Angeles 
County.  Their  petition  was  refused  by  the  clerk  of 

223 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

the  county  court,  acting  under  the  advice  of  the 
district  attorney,  on  the  sole  ground  of  their  being 
Indians.  They  then  referred  the  matter,  through 
their  attorney,  C.  N.  Wilson,  Esq.,  to  the  United 
States  Commissioner  at  Los  Angeles,  asking  him  to 
take  such  action  in  the  premises  as  would  fully  test 
their  rights  in  this  regard  under  the  Constitution. 
He  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  the  case, 
further  than  to  transmit  the  affidavits  of  the  Indians 
to  the  district  attorney  at  San  Francisco.  Here  the 
matter  rests  for  the  present,  with  little  prospect  that 
anything  in  their  interest  will  be  done  by  the  offi- 
cers of  justice  to  whom  they  have  made  appeal." 

Year  after  year  the  story  of  the  Mission  Indians 
appears  in  the  official  reports: 

"  I  may  first  remark,  in  general,  that  I  find  them 
a  much  more  numerous,  civilized,  and  industrious 
people  than  I  had  supposed;  properly  provided  for, 
their  future  is  hopeful.  Their  relation  to  the  Gov- 
ernment, and  the  white  population  now  pressing  in 
upon  them,  is  a  sad  commentary  upon  the  Christian 
civilization  of  the  age  in  its  modes  of  dealing  with 
the  weak  and  defenceless.  If  citizens,  their  rights 
as  such  have  been  entirely  overlooked  and  trampled 
upon;  if  wards  of  the  Government,  they  have  been 
most  sadly  neglected,  left  at  the  mercy  and  in  the 
power  of  the  citizens  who  are  settling  around  and 
among  them.  While  some  treat  them  humanely,  yet 
the  too  prevailing  sentiment  is  that  they  have  no 

224 


The  Mission  Indians 

rights  which  a  white  man  is  bound  to  respect,  while 
the  general  testimony  is  that  they  are  singularly  loyal 
to  the  Government,  honest,  peaceable,  inoffensive, 
and  patient  under  wrongs.  Among  all  the  depend- 
ent wards  of  the  Government  there  are  none  so 
much  needing  or  deserving  her  speedy  and  foster- 
ing care;  and  to  relieve  them  from  their  present 
deplorable  condition  will  be  a  truly  humane  and 
Christian  work.  .  .  . 

"  The  one  pressing  want  of  these  people  now  is 
land,  on  which  they  can  cultivate  their  gardens, 
herd  their  stock,  and  feel  secure  in  the  possession 
of  their  homes.  At  every  place  I  have  visited,  their 
homes  are  being  invaded  by  settlers  with  their  stock. 
In  one  settlement,  Morongo,  in  San  Bernardino 
County,  the  people  have  all  been  driven  off  at  the 
point  of  the  revolver.  Everywhere  the  sad  com- 
plaint is  that  their  gardens  are  being  invaded  and 
their  pastures  consumed  by  the  stock  of  settlers ;  the 
water  turned  away  from  their  ditches  to  irrigate  the 
gardens  of  those  trespassing  upon  their  lands;  and 
they  have  no  redress.  And  I  know  from  observa- 
tion that  their  complaints  are  but  too  true.  This 
state  of  things  cannot  continue  much  longer  with- 
out disastrous  consequences.  Either  these  helpless, 
non-resisting  people  will  be  driven  from  their  lands 
as  homeless  wanderers,  or  will  be  exasperated  to 
violent  deeds  of  self-defence.  Then  we  know  what 
will  follow.  I  cannot  exaggerate  the  urgency  of 
15  225 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

this  case.  Something  must  be  done  soon,  or  at 
least  reliable  assurances  must  be  given  that  the  Gov- 
ernment will  adjust  difficulties.  What  can  be  done? 
In  my  judgment,  it  is  no  use  to  spend  any  more 
money  or  time  in  sending  commissioners  or  agents 
to  talk;  Indians  and  settlers  alike  say  they  have 
had  enough  of  this,  and  I  feel  I  do  not  want  to  go 
again  among  that  people  without  authority  to  do, 
or  at  least  propose,  something  in  the  way  of  a 
speedy  and  safe  settlement  of  these  grave  difficulties." 

But  "  sending  commissioners  or  agents  to  talk  " 
disturbed  no  political  fences,  and  soothed  the  Gov- 
ernment's conscience  with  the  notion  that  it  was 
doing  something,  while  it  shrank  from  sustaining 
the  Indian  rights,  and  dreaded  as  well  to  complete 
the  sacrifice  of  the  Indian  for  political  gain. 

Poor,  buffeted,  helpless  Uncle  Sam!  The  servant 
of  the  people,  the  tool  of  the  Vociferous  Few!  So 
the  miserable  business  of  "  sending  commissioners  " 
went  on.  After  thirty  years  of  existence  under  the 
"  Banner  of  Freedom,"  the  Mission  Indians  received 
the  distinguished  consideration  of  another  very  com- 
plete report  of  their  unfortunate  condition: 

"  The  Mission  Indians  may  be  divided,  with  re- 
spect to  their  condition  and  manner  of  living,  into 
three  classes.  The  first  division  may  be  defined  as 
those  who  stay  on  or  about  the  ranches  or  farms 
of  white  men,  living  by  daily  labor  upon  the  farms, 
receiving,  when  they  work,  about  one  dollar  per 

226 


The  Mission  Indians 

day.  Most  of  the  larger  ranchmen  have  about  them 
one  or  several  families,  whom  they  permit  to  build 
their  slight  houses  on  the  corners  of  the  ranch,  or 
on  grounds  adjoining,  and  in  addition  allow  the  use 
of  water  sufficient  to  irrigate  a  garden,  which  such 
Indians  often  cultivate.  These  Indians  do  most  of 
the  ordinary  work  of  the  ranches,  except  when 
harvest-time,  sheep-shearing,  or  some  special  season 
requires  the  employment  of  other  help.  They  live 
more  or  less  comfortably,  as  the  proprietor  of  the 
ranch  to  which  they  are  attached  is  a  humane  and 
just  man,  or  hard-hearted  and  a  cheat.  They  are 
not  legal  tenants;  they  cannot  make  legal  contracts, 
or  collect  their  wages  by  a  suit  at  law,  if  for  no 
other  reason,  because  they  have  not  the  means  to 
prosecute  suits.  The  interests  of  the  ranchman  gen- 
erally dictate  treatment  at  least  fair  enough  to  pre- 
vent his  Indians  from  moving  away  from  him.  This 
class  of  Indians  is  pretty  large.  They  have  no  dif- 
ficulty in  securing  enough  food  and  comfortable 
clothing,  and  some  of  them  have  learned  to  be 
thrifty  and  prudent. 

"  The  second  class  is  made  up  of  those  who  live 
in  small  communities,  cultivating  lands  they  have 
held  for  a  long  time  and  have  been  accustomed  to 
call  their  own.  At  each  village  are  gathered  as 
many  families  as  the  natural  supply  of  water  will 
make  comfortable.  They  desire  above  all  else  to 
be  left  in  possession  of  these  little  villages,  which 

227 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

are  situated  wherever  a  spring  or  small  stream  of 
water  exists,  scattered  through  a  large  tract  of 
otherwise  desert  country.  Thus  they  have  a  vil- 
lage at  Potrero,  twenty-five  miles  from  here. 
Twenty  miles  in  another  direction  is  another  vil- 
lage; fifteen  miles  farther  another  village,  and  so 
on.  Till  recently  all  these  places  were  on  unsur- 
veyed  public  lands,  and  unclaimed.  Now  white 
men  have  set  up  claims  of  more  or  less  valid  char- 
acter upon  almost  every  acre  of  these  lands,  and 
they  are  liable  to  be  taken  away  unless  there  is 
prompt  and  energetic  action  by  the  Government. 
Each  Indian  family  at  these  villages  has  a  house 
and  cultivates  a  patch  of  ground,  varying  from  one 
acre  to  four  or  five.  A  field  of  five  acres  cultivated 
by  one  family  is  rarely  found.  Fruit-trees  and  well- 
kept  vines  are  not  unusual.  The  Indian  men  plant 
their  fields  in  the  spring,  give  them  a  more  or  less 
thrifty  cultivation  till  a  season  comes  when  they  can 
get  temporary  employment  on  ranches,  and  then  they 
leave  their  homes  in  charge  of  the  squaws  and  old 
men,  and  go  out  to  labor,  very  much  as  the  young 
men  in  Canada  flock  over  into  '  the  States '  in 
haying-time  to  work  for  the  New  England  and 
New  York  farmers.  A  much  greater  number  of 
the  Mission  Indians  were  formerly  included  in  this 
class,  and  oftentimes  the  Indians  described  in  the 
first  class  owned  and  cultivated  the  very  lands  where 
they  are  now  only  tolerated  as  day-laborers.  They 

228 


The  Mission  Indians 

are  very  much  attached  to  their  homes.  One  In- 
dian that  I  know  has  maintained  a  home  in  the 
Potrero,  and  for  many  years  worked  most  of  the 
time  twenty  miles  away.  He  is  as  little  willing  to 
give  up  his  Potrero  house  and  field  as  any  of  his 
neighbors  who  live  there  constantly.  But  now  his 
home  is  threatened  by  a  land-grabber  who  wants  it 
for  nothing.  This  second  class  of  Indians  are  the 
ones  now  most  especially  needing  the  energetic  care 
of  the  Government.  The  land-grabbers  are  after 
them,  and  an  agent  with  seven-leagued  boots  could 
scarcely  travel  from  village  to  village  as  fast  as 
those  Americans  who  are  seeking  a  few  acres  of 
ground  with  a  spring  upon  it,  or  moist  lands  where 
wheat  and  potatoes  grow  without  irrigation,  that 
may  be  pre-empted  or  taken  up  under  the  desert- 
land  act.  That  such  lands  have  been  held  by  In- 
dians and  cultivated  by  Indians  counts  for  nothing 
more  than  if  they  had  been  only  homes  for  grass- 
hoppers and  coyotes.  This  seems  to  me  a  great  and 
unpardonable  vice  in  the  law,  that  it  treats  as  un- 
occupied, and  subject  to  pre-emption,  lands  which 
have  been  in  fact  occupied  and  cultivated  precisely 
as  white  men  occupy  and  cultivate,  and  that,  too, 
for  more  than  one  generation  of  living  men.  But 
for  that  vice  of  the  law  the  Mission  Indians  would 
now  be  secure  in  their  old  possessions,  and  where 
their  improvements  and  water-rights  were  wanted 
they  would  be  bought  and  paid  for  instead  of  taken 

229 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

for  nothing1  in  the  name  of  law.  I  cannot  learn  at 
all  accurately  the  number  of  this  class  of  Indians, 
but  do  not  suppose  they  can  be  more  than  one-third 
of  all. 

"  The  third  class  is  rather  small,  and  includes 
those  that  hang  upon  the  outskirts  of  towns,  pass 
wistfully  through  the  streets,  seldom  asking  for 
anything,  but  silently  begging  with  their  longing, 
pathetic  eyes.  At  times,  when  they  can  get  whisky, 
the  men  are  besotted  brutes,  and  the  women  are 
generally  prostitutes,  though  the  family  tie  is  still 
strong  enough  to  keep  squaw  and  papoose  with 
the  husband.  With  this  class  are  some  unmarried 
women  who  are  prostitutes.  This,  which  I  will  call 
the  vagrant  class,  is  not  so  large  as  I  was  prepared 
to  find  it;  and  I  believe,  from  observation  and 
from  general  report,  that  vagrancy  is  not  a  state 
into  which  the  Mission  Indians  naturally  or  will- 
ingly fall.  Except  in  the  third  class,  I  believe 
prostitution  is  almost  or  quite  unknown,  and  that 
the  virtue  of  women  is  quite  as  highly  esteemed 
and  as  much  practiced  as  among  the  most  enlight- 
ened peoples." 

Neither  does  the  report  of  1880  show  any  change 
in  the  settled  habits  of  the  frontiersmen : 

"  Those  who  by  sufferance  have  lands  to  cultivate 
where  they  live,  have  tilled  them  to  profit  during 
the  season.  Only  yesterday  two  Indians  from  the 
San  Luis  Rey  tribe  called  at  the  agency,  reporting 

230 


The  Mission  Indians 

that  they  had  come  with  two  wagons,  loaded  witH 
over  seven  thousand  pounds  of  wheat,  which  they 
were  having  ground  into  flour  for  sale  and  for 
their  own  use.  This  amount  the  two  men  had 
raised  by  their  own  labor;  and  they  report  that 
their  people  have  plenty  of  wheat  and  are  doing 
well. 

"  It  is  doubtful,  however,  whether  they  will  be 
allowed  to  gather  another  harvest  from  those  fields 
which  they  have  long  cultivated,  and  which,  until 
recently,  they  believed  to  be  reserved  lands.  Two 
years  ago  a  '  land-grabber '  suddenly  discovered  that 
these  Indians  were  not  on  the  lands  reserved  for 
them  in  a  given  township  east  of  the  meridian  line, 
but  in  the  corresponding  township  west  of  the  merid- 
ian, and  at  once  filed  upon  the  land  they  occupied 
under  the  '  desert-land  act.'  How  lands  cultivated 
by  these  people  for  more  than  a  generation  can  be 
called  '  desert '  I  am  not  able  to  answer.  But  it  is 
quite  likely  that  certain  land  officials  in  these  parts 
who  consider  the  occupancy  of  lands  by  Indians  as 
of  no  more  significance  than  their  occupancy  by  so 
many  coyotes  will  have  less  difficulty  with  such 
questions.  The  Indian  '  must  go '  if  he  is  on  a 
patch  of  ground  that  a  white  man  wants,  and  no 
matter  that  he  has  lived  on  and  cultivated  it  for  a 
generation.  It  is  wanted  all  the  more  on  account 
of  its  improved  condition.  .  .  . 

"  Other  wrongs  practiced  upon  these  helpless  people 
231 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

have  been  checked  in  great  measure  since  my  arrival 
at  this  agency,  such  as  the  fraudulent  methods  of 
employers  in  paying  Indian  laborers.  Every  con- 
ceivable trick  is  resorted  to  to  get  labor  of  this 
kind  as  cheap  as  possible.  The  following  case  was 
brought  to  my  attention  some  time  ago.  An  Indian 
having  labored  at  cutting  wood  for  six  days,  earn- 
ing, at  the  wages  agreed  upon,  the  sum  of  $2.50, 
received  in  part  payment  two  bottles  of  wine,  for 
which  he  was  charged  $i,  and  upon  demanding  the 
balance  of  $1.50  in  money  he  was  ordered  to  leave 
the  premises.  The  Indian  refusing  to  go  without 
his  money,  the  man  took  down  his  shot-gun  and 
discharged  a  load  of  buck-shot  into  the  Indian's 
face,  destroying  the  sight  of  an  eye  and  otherwise 
disfiguring  his  face.  The  next  day  this  employer 
boasted  to  an  acquaintance  how  he  had  settled  a 
bill  of  $1.50  with  an  Indian  by  paying  him  in 
buck-shot." 

And  in  the  following  year: 

"  A  further  source  of  trouble  in  this  connection 
is  that  growing  out  of  the  fact  that  even-numbered 
sections  have  been  reserved  for  Indians  within  the 
limits  of  *  railroad  land  grants/  In  some  instances 
their  villages  are  found  to  be  on  railroad  sections; 
or,  if  they  happen  to  be  on  reserved  land,  their  little 
fields,  cultivated  all  these  years,  are  claimed  as  within 
the  limits  of  the  railroad  grant,  their  improvements 
presenting  such  temptations  as  to  overcome  all  con- 

232 


The  Mission  Indians 

siderations  of  sympathy  and  right.  The  lands  are 
entered  in  the  office  of  the  railroad  company,  taken 
and  occupied,  and  the  Indians  turned  out.  Now  if 
the  same  rights  which  attach  in  common  to  the 
bond  fide  white  settler  occupying  land  prior  to  such 
grant  to  railroads  were  accorded  to  Indian  occu- 
pants, it  would  be  different;  but,  unfortunately  for 
the  Indian,  he  has  not  yet  in  fact  come  to  be  con- 
sidered by  the  Government  as  a  man,  although  bear- 
ing the  impress  of  a  common  Maker  in  all  respects 
except  as  to  the  color  of  his  skin.  .  .  . 

"  Referring  to  the  subject  of  civilization,  I  have 
to  say  that  the  Mission  Indians  are  as  much  civi- 
lized as  the  population  by  which  they  are  surrounded ; 
and  if  they  are  not  up  to  the  full  standard,  it  is 
because  of  their  surroundings.  All  wear  civilized 
dress,  sustain  themselves,  with  few  exceptions,  by 
civilized  pursuits,  and  hold  themselves  answerable 
to  the  law  of  the  land  when  they  violate  it." 

However  lightly  this  constant  tale  of  woe  may 
have  affected  Congress,  its  reactive  effect  on  one 
of  the  agents  was  marked.  After  four  years  of 
service  as  compiler  of  facts  for  the  dusty  archives 
of  the  Government,  he  vents  his  disgust: 

"  It  is  true  the  goal  of  my  ambition  to  see  them 
provided  with  land  for  permanent  homes,  which  has 
been  so  persistently  urged  in  former  reports,  has  not 
yet  been  reached.  And  my  faith  in  the  power  and 
influence  of  agents'  reports  and  letters  on  subjects 

233 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

of  this  nature  is  at  this  writing  very  much  shaken 
by  results,  or,  rather,  the  want  of  results.  But  I 
have  not  been  alone  in  efforts  in  this  direction,  nor 
yet  in  want  of  success.  Since  my  last  annual  report 
voluntary  and  independent  action  has  been  taken  by 
a  prominent  State  religious  and  city-trade  associa- 
tion, as  well  as  by  prominent  individuals,  in  the 
way  of  memorializing  Congress  in  behalf  of  homes 
for  these  people,  but  with  no  better  result.  To  me 
it  is  doubtful  whether  Congress  will  ever  take  ac- 
tion in  the  premises,  since  it  has  been  demonstrated 
in  its  past  dealings  with  the  Indian  question  that 
distinguished  consideration  is  shown  to  the  Indian 
only  in  proportion  as  he  has  developed  a  disposi- 
tion to  be  troublesome  and  worthless." 

But  here  is  a  variation  from  the  usual  tale: 
"  In  the  month  of  June  last  I  visited  a  village  of 
the  San  Luis  Rey  Indians,  who  had  hitherto  been 
wandering  about,  landless  and  homeless,  but  who  a 
year  ago  settled  in  the  foot-hills  near  Temecula 
ranch,  from  which  they  were  once  ejected.  No 
running  water  is  found  where  they  live,  but  at 
great  labor  they  had  dug  wells  and  developed 
water  for  domestic  purposes.  They  had  just  har- 
vested their  first  crops,  consisting  of  wheat  and 
barley,  which  was  grown  upon  winter  rains.  One 
Indian  told  me  he  would  have  about  500  sacks  of 
barley.  I  estimated  that  they  would  have  about  two 
carloads  of  grain  to  sell  over  and  above  what  they 

234 


The  Mission  Indians 

would  require  for  their  own  use.  The  land  they 
had  settled  upon  I  found  to  be  surveyed  Govern- 
ment land,  and  I  found  also  that  their  success  in 
growing  grain  upon  it  had  already  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  ubiquitous  '  land  grabber.'  No  time 
must  be  lost  in  securing  this  land  for  these  Indians. 
The  Indians  feared  they  might  be  driven  off,  and 
I  promised  them  I  would  not  sleep  after  returning 
to  the  agency  till  I  had  written  to  Washington  and 
asked  that  this  land  be  given  to  them.  I  kept  my 
promise,  and,  with  commendable  promptness,  I  re- 
ceived an  executive  order  setting  apart  the  land  for 
their  use.  To  me,  as  well  as  to  these  Indians,  it 
was  the  most  gratifying  incident  of  the  year." 

It  is  indeed  something  that  the  Indian's  refuge 
in  the  canyons  was  saved  to  him.  The  case  of  this 
little  band  of  San  Luis  Rey  Indians  was  only  one 
of  many.  In  foot-hills,  in  canyons,  on  unclaimed 
little  oases  in  the  deserts  —  wherever  a  few  of  the 
dispossessed  Indians  had  gathered  together  in  the 
hope  of  again  establishing  themselves  —  executive 
orders  were  secured  setting  aside  portions  of  the 
public  domain  for  their  use.  And  whenever  one  of 
these  little  reservations  proved  too  tempting  to  the 
on-coming  white  man,  he  had  only  to  persist  in  his 
inalienable  right  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness  in  that 
particular  spot;  another  executive  order  as  easily 
disposed  of  the  Indian  right,  and  restored  the  land 
to  the  public  domain  —  to  his  domain.  The  real 

235 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

significance  of  the  Government's  beneficence  is  dis- 
closed in  the  report  for  1886: 

"  The  Government  has  apparently  been  very  gen- 
erous to  the  Mission  Indians.  It  has  given  them 
more  than  twenty  different  reservations,  embracing 
nearly  200,000  acres;  but  what  a  country!  After 
a  careful  examination  of  all  the  land  we  do  not 
think  there  are  over  5,000  acres  of  tillable  land, 
and  the  best  portion  of  that  is  now  held  by  tres- 
passers in  defiance  of  the  agent  and  Government. 

"  The  Potrero  reservation  is  covered  over  with 
squatters  who  have  settled  there  long  since  the  lands 
were  set  apart  for  Indian  purposes.  They  are  there 
in  open  defiance  of  law.  They  have  managed  to 
get  their  cases  before  the  Indian  Department  for 
adjudication.  The  rights  of  these  Indians  to  these 
lands  are  as  clear  and  absolute  as  the  proclamation 
of  a  President  can  make  them.  The  squatters  should 
never  have  had  a  standing  in  court  till  after  they 
were  dispossessed.  The  Government  ought  to  have 
removed  every  one  of  them,  and  if  they  have  rights 
then  let  them  assert  them  before  the  courts.  Until 
the  Indians  feel  assured  of  a  perfect  title  they  will 
not  build  houses,  put  out  orchards  or  vineyards,  nor 
anything  to  make  the  land  more  valuable." 

"  The  squatters  should "  and  "  the  Government 
ought "  —  these  are  sure  marks  of  a  new  agent. 
What  a  godsend  to  his  Government  and  to  the 
Indians  each  and  every  new,  inexperienced  agent 

236 


The  Mission  Indians 

fondly  imagines  himself!  The  grossest,  most  pal- 
pable injustices  have  only  awaited  his  coming,  that 
a  simple  recital  of  self-evident  abuses  with  their 
equally  patent  remedies  (strange  that  previous  agents 
have  overlooked  them!)  shall  bring  happiness  out 
of  misery  and  order  out  of  chaos. 

Poor  fellow !  He  soon  discovers  himself  —  a  mere 
speck  in  the  political  firmament,  just  below  the  hori- 
zon. The  squatter  continues  to  do  as  he  pleases,  and 
the  great  Government  continues  to  do  as  the  squatter 
pleases. 

After  forty  years  of  wild  and  reckless  "  Freedom  " 
at  the  expense  of  the  miserable  Mission  Indians,  the 
squatters  met  their  first  —  and  only  —  reverse.  The 
great  Government  automaton  suddenly  refused  to 
respond  to  invisible  political  pulls.  Its  executive 
head  —  horrible  discovery !  —  had  the  temerity  to 
respond  to  impulses  from  his  own  nerve-centres. 

"  The  position  of  these  intruders,"  proclaimed 
President  Grover  Cleveland,  "  is  one  of  simple  and 
bare-faced  wrong-doing,  plainly  questioning  the  in- 
clination of  the  Government  to  protect  its  dependent 
Indian  wards  and  its  ability  to  maintain  itself  in 
the  guaranty  of  such  protection.  These  intruders 
should  forthwith  feel  the  weight  of  the  Govern- 
ment's power." 

This  expressed  the  attitude  of  the  Cleveland  ad- 
ministration toward  the  persecuted  Indian.  A  short 
time  previous  to  this  declaration  the  removal  of  the 

237 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

astonished  squatters  had  been  undertaken,  with  vary- 
ing success.  One  agent  reports  the  accomplishment 
of  squatter  removals  without  serious  difficulty,  and 
adds,  "  What  these  men  will  do  under  the  circum- 
stances I  know  not.  They  have  been  seeking  relief 
through  their  representatives  in  Congress,  but  the 
result  is  not  reported." 

Far  more  interesting  is  the  account  from  the 
Round  Valley  reservation.  It  was  here  that,  fifteen 
years  before,  suits  of  ejectment  had  been  summarily 
dismissed  because  "  Lobby  influence  at  Washington 
was  too  much  for  the  Indian  Department."  In  this 
year,  1887,  as  in  1872,  the  trespassers  were  firmly 
entrenched  behind  their  local  political  forces;  they 
met  the  Government  order  for  removal  with  a 
prompt  refusal ;  they  unhesitatingly  arrayed  them- 
selves against  Federal  authority,  and  Federal  au- 
thority bravely  undertook  to  vindicate  itself  by 
calling  into  requisition  a  section  of  its  little  army. 
It  is  a  comedy  briefly  but  concisely  told  in  tele- 
graphic despatches  between  Gen.  O.  O.  Howard, 
commanding  the  Department  of  the  Pacific,  and 
the  War  Department.  General  Howard  opens  the 
play: 

"...  Captain  Shaw's  company,  First  Artillery, 
was,  August  17,  sent  to  evict  trespassers  upon  Round 
Valley  Indian  reservation.  On  iQth  instant  he  com- 
menced evictions  and  was  thereupon  served  with 
injunction,  issued  by  Judge  Superior  Court  of  Men- 

238 


The  Mission  Indians 

docino  County,  California,  by  person  claiming  to  be 
deputy  sheriff  of  same,  which  Captain  Shaw  refused 
to  obey,  and  continued  to  evict.  Upon  affidavit  of  said 
deputy  sheriff,  judge  of  said  court  has  issued  attach- 
ment for  Shaw,  who  declined  to  surrender.  .  .  ." 

Plucky  man,  Captain  Shaw.  He  seems  to  have 
labored  under  the  impression  that  his  Government 
had  some  rights  which  the  Vociferous  Few  were 
bound  to  respect. 

The  next  day  General  Howard  again  telegraphed 
the  Department: 

"  Shall  I  leave  Captain  Shaw  to  be  arrested  and 
imprisoned,  at  the  call  of  the  trespassers,  who  have 
no  rights  whatever,  in  obedience  to  orders  of  local 
courts?  .  .  .  Please  sustain  me,  and  Captain  Shaw, 
who  has  not  exceeded  our  orders  one  whit." 

And  the  War  Department  replied  to  the  General : 

"  In  view  of  facts  as  presented  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  he  directs  that  you  desist  in  declining  to 
obey  writ  until  question  of  jurisdiction  is  determined 
by  Federal  courts." 

So  the  soldier  boys  wended  their  way  homeward, 
carrying  their  wounded  feelings  with  them,  while 
the  squatters  held  high  carnival,  victors  upon  a 
bloodless  field;  in  the  doleful  language  of  the  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs,  "  Thus  the  second  at- 
tempt to  regain  possession  of  the  reservation  by 
military  force  ended  in  utter  failure." 

"  All  Government  derives  its  just  powers  from  the 
239 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

consent  of  the  governed  "  —  therefore,  if  the  gov- 
erned do  not  consent,  they  have  only  to  cry, 
"  Hands  off !  "  and  the  Government  may  only  view 
from  the  outside  their  unique  efforts  to  govern 
themselves. 

The  spectacle  of  Round  Valley  is  not  an  unusual 
one.  Nothing  short  of  a  general  and  bloody  riot, 
threatening  destruction  under  conditions  manifestly 
beyond  all  local  control,  will  induce  the  American 
people  to  tolerate  the  interference  of  the  Federal 
Government,  so  grounded  are  they  in  the  belief  that 
their  full  measure  of  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit 
of  happiness "  can  come  only  through  the  sacred 
right  of  each  and  every  community  to  be  a  "  law 
unto  itself "  in  its  local  affairs.  The  scheme  of 
"  Government  by  the  people  "  does  not  contemplate 
a  central  authority  which  shall  exercise  a  salutary 
control  over  widely  diverse  social  conditions  in  the 
interest  of  a  homogeneous  and  consistent  whole.  A 
community  has  only  to  fortify  itself  with  its  own 
public  sentiment  that,  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness, 
Indians  may  be  driven  to  the  deserts,  or  negro  citi- 
zens burned  at  the  stake;  that  community  is  as 
secure  from  Federal  interference  as  would  be  any 
neighboring  Spanish-American  State  that  might  in- 
dulge in  similar  pastimes.  More  secure,  for  if  an 
American  negro  citizen  were  to  be  burned  alive  in 
any  country  on  the  face  of  the  globe  except  his 
own,  one  of  the  most  efficient  navies  afloat  would 

240 


The  Mission  Indians 

enforce,  if  necessary,  full  and  prompt  reparation  for 
the  outrage.  Uncle  Sam  is  impotent  only  within  his 
own  realm. 

And  the  story  of  the  Mission  Indians  goes  on  in 
the  annual  reports: 

"  The  teachings  of  the  padres  saved  them  from 
savagism.  Neglect  and  white  man's  greed  have 
robbed  them  of  land,  and  his  vices  have  reduced 
their  numbers  from  15,000  in  1834,  to  7,000  in 
1852,  to  3,000  in  1890.  No  man  with  a  particle  of 
humanity  left  can  meet  these  people  as  an  agent 
does  without  feeling  ashamed  as  the  agent  of  this 
good  Government,  which  has  forcibly  taken  posses- 
sion of  this  country  and  assumed  the  care  for  this 
weak  people,  that  we  should  have  by  neglect  and 
dishonesty  of  its  paid  agents  reduced  them  to  such 
abject  poverty  and  helplessness.  Our  own  records 
of  the  past  are  humiliating.  Cortez  robbed  the 
Aztecs  of  gold,  but  left  them  their  land  and  water. 
Americans  posing  as  Christians  have  robbed  these 
poor  children  of  nature,  by  legal  trickery,  of  their 
land  made  sacred  by  the  graves  of  their  ancestors. 
As  agent  for  this  Government,  that  I  know  desires 
to  deal  fairly  with  this  people,  now  I  ask  and  urge 
that  a  commissioner  may  be  appointed  to  come  here 
and  settle  all  land  titles,  give  these  people  from  ten 
to  twenty  acres  of  available  land  with  water  for 
homes,  tools  to  work  with,  and  enforce  attendance 
in  school  until  every  child  has  secured  a  common 
16  241 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

English  education.  In  this  way  we  can  soon  make 
some  return  for  the  lands  we  have  driven  them 
from,  and  make  them  self-supporting,  intelligent, 
local  citizens.  Oft-repeated  promises  and  disap- 
pointments cause  them  to  distrust  any  statement 
made  by  civil  officers,  with  reason." 

Here  again,  in  1894,  are  the  San  Pasqual  Indians, 
after  many  years  in  oblivion: 

"  San  Pasqual  Village.  These  Indians  have  been 
treated  by  the  United  States  in  a  very  unfair  and 
unjust  manner.  Their  lands  in  San  Pasqual  Valley 
were  granted  to  them  by  the  Mexican  Government. 
Notwithstanding  this,  the  United  States  patented  the 
same  lands  to  whites,  and,  as  a  result,  the  Indians 
had  to  leave  and  seek  a  new  home,  which,  when 
found,  does  not  in  the  slightest  compare  with  their 
former  lands  in  San  Pasqual  Valley.  They  are 
quiet,  law-abiding  people,  and  deserve  consideration 
at  the  hands  of  the  Government." 

1848-1898.  Fifty  years  under  the  glorious  flag 
of  the  United  States.  In  this  year,  1898,  did  the 
Mission  Indians  celebrate  the  semi-centennial  with  a 
grand  jubilee,  or  joyously  sing,  "  My  country  't  is  of 
thee,  sweet  land  of  liberty,  of  thee  I  sing  "  ?  If  they 
did,  there  is  no  record  of  it.  The  agent's  report 
for  that  year  mentions  no  singing: 

"  Once  they  possessed  the  best  of  this  land,  in 
fact,  owned  it  all.  The  advent  of  the  white  man 
has  resulted  in  their  discomfiture,  and  they  have 

242 


The  Mission  Indians 

been  driven  back  to  inhospitable  canyons,  gravelly 
wastes,  and  mountain-tops.  In  this  position  we  find 
them  to-day,  humiliated,  and  in  many  cases  legally 
robbed  of  their  former  possessions.  The  protection 
of  their  remaining  rights  from  the  rapacity  of  the 
whites,  even  to  the  pillaging  of  the  little  feed  that 
grows  within  the  confines  of  their  reservation,  is  a 
task  of  no  small  magnitude. 

"  While  upon  this  subject  it  would  be  d  propos  to 
consider  the  self-support  of  these  people.  I  desire 
to  call  your  attention  forcibly  to  this  fact,  that  they 
are  not  in  any  sense  of  the  term  self-supporting. 
In  a  majority  of  instances  they  are  geographically 
located  so  that  self-support  is  impossible.  Without 
soil  or  water,  they  are  obliged  to  depend  upon  the 
acorn  and  mesquite  bean  crop  and  other  forage  for 
their  subsistence." 

Then  the  nineteenth  century  draws  to  a  close;  the 
American  people  have  become  one  of  the  greatest 
of  the  world's  nations.  They  have  expanded  to  the 
farthest  limits  of  their  great  country.  California 
has  added  her  scores  of  millions  of  golden  treasure 
to  the  national  wealth  and  her  old  Mission  lands  have 
yielded  their  millions  in  golden  fruit.  It  is  a  period 
of  rejoicing,  of  congratulation,  of  feverish  desire  for 
more  unsubdued  wilds  to  conquer.  As  Uncle  Sam 
stands  upon  the  threshold  of  the  new  century,  gazing 
with  speculative  eye  upon  the  isles  across  the  western 
sea  where  another  inferior  race  awaits  his  pleasure, 

243 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

he  pauses  in  the  work  of  conquest  to  jot  down  in 
his  great  diary  this  agent's  memorandum  of  the  in- 
ferior race  at  home: 

"  During  the  past  fiscal  year  I  have  visited  each 
and  every  reserve,  even  to  those  situated  in  the  re- 
motest districts.  At  many  reservations  I  found  the 
poor  Indians  eking  out  a  miserable  existence,  in  a 
half-civilized  condition,  with  never  enough  food  and 
clothing  to  sustain  them  properly,  and  as  a  make- 
shift making  pilgrimages  to  the  Sierra  Madre  Moun- 
tains, in  Mexico,  to  gather  the  pine  nuts  for  food 
during  the  pinching  days  of  winter;  yet  I  will  give 
them  the  credit,  even  under  greatly  adverse  circum- 
stances, many  of  them  were  trying  hard  to  raise 
something  from  their  small  patches  of  dry  ground." 

Vale,  Mission  Indian!  Struggle  as  you  may  to 
gather  sustenance  from  your  gravel  patch;  fill  your 
belly  with  the  acorn,  the  pine  nut,  and  the  mesquite 
bean,  if  you  will;  but  the  day  is  coming  when  the 
white  man  will  need  your  gravel  patch ;  when  his 
genius  will  devise  some  use  in  his  own  economic 
system  for  the  acorn,  the  pine  nut,  and  the  mesquite 
bean. 

Vale,  Mission  Indian! 

And  fifty  years  from  now,  when  the  more  venture- 
some among  the  Noble  Free  —  free  from  every  re- 
straint not  imposed  by  themselves  upon  themselves, 
free  to  pursue  happiness  to  the  limit  of  their  own 
desires  —  shall  have  exercised  their  God-given  rights 

244 


The  Mission  Indians 

for  a  half-century  in  the  new  island  country  of  the 
Pacific,  will  the  United  States  Government  be  record- 
ing the  woes  of  little  native  bands  in  the  mountains 
and  canyons  of  the  Philippines,  "  eking  out  a  miser- 
able existence  in  a  half-civilized  condition  "  ? 

Possibly  the  mountain  fastnesses  of  the  archi- 
pelago do  not  grow  acorns,  pine  nuts,  and  mesquite 
beans?  Perish  the  thought!  Nature  cannot  have 
been  so  cruelly  improvident  of  future  necessities  for 
the  unhappy  people  who  have  hopelessly  sung  for 
their  own  country  — 

"  Land  where  my  fathers  died, 

From  every  mountain-side, 
Let  Freedom  ring !  " 


245 


DIVIDING   THE   SPOILS 

IN  the  pioneer  days  of  fifty,  forty,  and  even 
thirty  years  ago,  when  settlement  on  the  fron- 
tier meant  something  of  hardship  and  priva- 
tion, the  homestead  law,  with  its  provision  for  a 
small  fixed  charge  upon  every  homesteader  without 
regard  to  differences  in  land  values,  served  to  re- 
ward the  hardy  pioneer  for  pushing  out  beyond  his 
neighbors  by  bestowing  upon  him  the  first  choice 
of  soil  and  location.  Not  only  was  he  rewarded  in 
direct  proportion  to  his  hardihood  by  this  system  of 
"  first  come,  first  served,"  but  the  Government  and 
the  country  at  large  gained  as  well,  in  the  develop- 
ment of  new  territory. 

In  preparation  for  this  great  westward  movement, 
the  Indians  of  the  plains  and  mountains  were  from 
time  to  time  gathered  upon  reservations;  those  east 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  located,  in  the  main, 
along  the  Missouri  River  on  the  north,  and  within 
the  Indian  Territory  on  the  south.  The  advancing 
civilization  of  the  white  man  came  up  with  these 
reservations,  established  itself  alongside  them,  and 
pushed  on  westward  to  the  natural  limit. 

246 


OURAY,  UTE  CHIEF,  COLORADO 
(1874) 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

As  late  as  twenty-five  years  ago  the  same  condi- 
tions obtained  over  a  limited  extent  of  the  western 
territory,  and  the  homesteading  of  Government  land 
continued  normally,  steadily,  always  a  little  in  ad- 
vance of  railroads  and  the  comforts  which  come 
with  settled  conditions.  Finally  the  arid  and  semi- 
arid  lands  of  the  eastern  Rocky  Mountain  slope  were 
reached;  railroads  extended  everywhere.  Then,  in- 
stead of  a  fertile  farm  in  the  wilds  to  be  obtained 
at  the  cost  of  personal  comfort,  the  prospective 
homesteader  was  offered  decidedly  unproductive  land 
within  easy  distance  of  railroad  and  town.  Still 
the  business  of  homesteading  went  on;  but  the  high 
prairies  refused  to  yield  the  expected  reward.  The 
disastrous  recoil  from  the  great  eastern  slope  will 
not  soon  be  forgotten,  either  by  the  over-confident 
settlers,  or  by  the  eastern  investors  who  later  ac- 
quired the  "  farms  "  as  souvenirs  of  money  loaned 
and  lost. 

With  the  taking  of  the  last  of  the  really  good 
public  lands,  the  wave  of  restless  humanity  which 
constitutes  the  cutting  edge  of  civilization  turned 
back  to  the  Indian  reservations  —  generally  large, 
fertile  tracts,  adjacent  to  well-developed  country. 
There  the  land-seekers  gazed  hungrily  at  the  pos- 
sessions for  which  the  Indians  had  given  up  their 
great  hunting-grounds.  With  a  Government  at  its 
beck  and  call,  pledged  to  execute  the  expressed  will 
of  the  people,  it  was  not  in  human  nature  for  these 

247 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

people  to  wait  long.  New  bargains  were  made  with 
the  Indians,  and  cessions  of  land  secured  —  always 
their  best  land,  and  at  one-half  to  one-tenth  of  its 
real  value.  Reservations  were  diminished  or  done 
away  with  altogether,  and  tribes  consolidated,  and 
once  more  there  was  public  land  —  not  land  in  the 
wilds,  to  be  earned  by  the  subduing  of  it,  but  good 
land,  and  well  within  the  boundaries  of  civilization. 

Wholly  changed  conditions  confronted  the  land 
department  of  the  Government.  The  inequalities  of 
value  inherent  to  any  country  were  enormously  in- 
creased in  these  reservations  by  the  proximity  of 
towns  on  their  borders,  and  by  railroads  often  run- 
ning directly  through  the  ceded  lands.  A  new 
scheme  of  equitable  land  distribution  was  demanded 
by  the  new  conditions. 

With  the  vanishing  of  the  frontier  the  homestead 
law,  with  its  fixed-price,  first-come-first-served  sys- 
tem, served  its  last  useful  purpose.  Its  impartial 
gifts  and  rewards  had  led  the  hosts  westward  to 
the  Pacific  coast,  and  it  deserved  to  pass  into  his- 
tory as  a  grand  instrument  in  the  upbuilding  of 
the  West.  Not  one  condition  remained  to  give  the 
homestead  law  an  excuse  for  exercise,  yet  from  that 
time  until  to-day  these  ceded  Indian  lands  have  all 
been  opened  under  the  essential  provisions  of  that 
law,  for  no  other  reason  than  that  a  Government 
bound  by  the  Vociferous  Few  to  questionable 
methods  of  gaining  cessions  of  Indian  lands  has 

248 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

been  equally  bound  in  its  manner  of  dividing  the 
spoils. 

What  has  always  been  the  result? 

Instead  of  the  Government  beckoning  to  civiliza- 
tion to  people  its  wilderness,  we  find  it  announcing 
the  day  and  hour  set  for  the  opening  of  its  public 
land.  The  fixed  price  per  acre  is  but  a  fraction  of 
its  value;  Uncle  Sam  gives  the  Faithful  the  full 
benefit  of  his  sharp  bargains  with  the  Indians.  The 
military  parades  across  the  tract  to  keep  it  clear  of 
"  sooners  "  —  an  expressive  term  applied  to  boomers 
who  enter  the  promised  land  sooner  than  they  ought ; 
on  the  day  of  the  opening,  soldiers  with  loaded  rifles 
are  posted  in  front  of  the  hungry  horde,  with  orders 
to  shoot  if  the  line  is  overstepped  —  and  they  have 
shot,  too,  with  telling  effect;  adventurers  take  the 
place  of  bond  fide  settlers,  and  alluring  Chance  super- 
cedes  reasonable  expectation  of  reward  for  labor. 

The  evils  and  abuses  attending  the  "  rush  "  sys- 
tem reached  their  culmination  at  the  opening  of 
the  Cherokee  Strip,  on  the  northern  border  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  in  September,  1893.  The  reader 
cannot  better  comprehend  this  method  of  dividing 
the  spoils  than  by  attending,  in  retrospect,  this  most 
grotesque  event. 

A  hundred  thousand  men  stand  in  line  on  land  in 
Kansas  and  Oklahoma  worth  from  ten  dollars  to 
twenty-five  dollars  an  acre,  gazing  upon  land  to  be 
offered  at  the  crack  of  a  gun  for  one  dollar  and  a 

249 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

half  and  two  dollars  and  a  half  an  acre.  That  is 
the  measure  of  the  Government's  bargain  with  the 
Indians.  Some  have  been  there  for  weeks,  some  for 
months  —  why  so  long,  nobody  knows ;  neither  do 
they.  The  shrewd  ones  have  been  waiting  no  more 
than  a  day  or  two ;  they  and  their  horses  are  fresh  for 
the  rush.  Twelve  o'clock  is  the  hour  set  for  the 
opening,  and  on  the  last  morning  of  the  long  wait 
a  deep,  suppressed  excitement  possesses  the  motley 
crowd,  growing  more  intense  as  the  forenoon  wears 
away. 

They  begin  to  form  for  the  great  race.  The  cow- 
boys in  front  with  their  hardy  prairie  horses,  ready 
to  swear  to  each  other's  "  time "  before  the  land 
office  officials  —  for  after  the  race  each  must  prove 
the  time  of  his  arrival  if  several  enter  claims  for 
the  same  tract.  Men  with  race-horses,  too,  confi- 
dently take  their  places  beside  the  scrubby  cow- 
ponies;  but  they  will  not  ride  their  thoroughbreds 
next  time  —  racers  do  not  understand  about  badger- 
holes  and  gopher-mounds ;  very  few  cow-ponies  ended 
that  race  with  broken  legs.  Then  there  are  horses 
in  harness;  sulkies,  buckboards,  spring  buggies,  and 
even  lumbering  lumber  wagons,  —  prairie  schooners, 
tops  and  all,  loaded  with  stoves,  and  chairs,  and 
babies,  and  chickens,  with  now  and  then  a  pig 
thrown  in;  sure  signs,  these,  of  the  nomadic,  rent- 
ing farmer,  the  all-wise,  know-nothing,  soldier  of 
misfortune,  the  typical  western  renter. 

250 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

You  find  him  everywhere,  this  sage  of  the  corner 
grocery;  in  the  West  he  is  the  nomadic  renter.  In 
the  fall,  to  begin  with,  there  is  the  renter  and  his 
family,  fresh  from  their  latest  failure.  He  bargains 
for  a  broken-down  team  and  mortgages  it  back  to 
the  owner  for  the  full  price,  —  the  owner  is  pleased 
to  have  his  team  fed  through  the  winter.  He  bor- 
rows a  cow  for  her  "  keep  "  and  increase,  then  rents 
a  farm  "  on  shares  " ;  the  owner  furnishes  the  seed, 
and  rewards  himself  liberally  in  the  lease  for  doing 
so.  The  winter  passes  somehow,  with  odd  jobs;  by 
spring  he  had  delivered  a  course  of  lectures  at  the 
country  store  on  How  to  Run  the  Government,  and 
the  store-keeper  holds  a  mortgage  on  the  crops  "  to 
be  "  for  supplies  advanced.  Now  he  half  plants  his 
crops,  and  tends  them  —  hurriedly ;  for  he  is  needed 
at  the  store  to  explain  grave  defects  in  the  na- 
tional currency  system.  Harvest  time  comes,  and  he 
"  buys  "  machinery ;  another  chattel  mortgage.  But 
the  lightning  of  misfortune  never  misses  him ;  if  too 
wet,  his  crops  wash  out;  if  too  dry,  they  burn  out; 
for  they  were  never  really  in.  And  he  lays  it  all  to 
the  currency. 

After  the  harvest  comes  the  accounting.  The  land 
owner  helps  himself  first,  then  the  store-keeper;  the 
machinery  goes  back  to  the  factory,  and  the  owner 
of  the  team  claims  his  own.  Last  of  all,  the  source 
of  his  milk  supply  ambles  out  through  the  gate  in 
the  wake  of  her  unfeeling  master. 

251 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

So,  once  more  in  the  fall,  there  is  the  renter,  and 
his  family  —  plus  one.  The  annual  cycle  is  rarely 
left  incomplete. 

Months  ago  the  renter  heard  of  the  great  Cherokee 
Strip  opening,  and  started  forthwith  for  the  prom- 
ised land.  He  has  been  camping  out  all  the  way 
down  from  loway,  or  Illinoiay;  he  has  been  camp- 
ing here  for  weeks.  But  for  the  first  time  in  his  life 
his  cock-sureness  wobbles  a  little;  there  is  something 
in  the  determined  looks,  in  the  be-pistoled  figures 
of  the  line  in  front  that  dispels  his  dream  of  a 
home  for  the  asking.  Deluded  renter,  you  are  only 
one  of  fifty  thousand!  This  is  to  be  a  race  for  the 
swift,  not  for  the  settler. 

The  great,  lumbering  wagon  cannot  make  the  run 
—  he  gets  that  through  the  armor  of  his  self-conceit. 
So  he  proceeds  to  "  on-hitch  "  his  least  "  winded  " 
plough-horse,  and  gets  astride;  and  as  this  Don 
Quixote  outfit  shuffles  to  the  front,  the  children 
squall,  and  the  chickens  squawk,  while  his  long- 
suffering,  much  better  half  tearfully  prays  that  this 
once  in  their  dreary  lives  good  fortune  may  smile 
upon  them. 

Over  there  is  a  man  standing  beside  a  rough  stone 
set  in  a  little  mound  of  earth ;  that  stone  is  a  section 
corner.  He  is  talking  in  a  low  tone  with  two  or 
three  friends;  the  quarter  section  of  land  marked 
by  that  stone  is  worth  four  thousand  dollars,  and 
it  will  cost  some  lucky  man  two  hundred  and  forty. 

252 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

As  he  thinks  of  it  his  breath  comes  hard,  and  his 
eye  has  a  dangerous  light.  He  turns  to  his  friends. 
Will  they  bear  witness  that  at  the  crack  of  the  gun 
he  was  the  first  to  claim  this  tract?  Will  they  stand 
by  him? 

His  friends  gaze  down  the  line  of  thousands  and 
turn  apprehensively  away;  they  have  seen  the  same 
dangerous  light  in  too  many  eyes  that  morning. 

Each  man  has  a  little  flag  to  thrust  into  the 
ground  as  soon  as  he  thinks  he  has  reached  a 
square  half-mile  of  land  without  a  claimant.  But 
suppose  there  is  another  flag,  and  another  claimant? 
Well,  each  man  has  a  little  gun,  and  if  he  can  con- 
vince his  unwelcome  neighbor  by  argument  that  he 
is  the  better  shot,  there  need  be  no  bloodshed. 

It  lacks  fifteen  minutes  of  twelve  o'clock.  The 
tension  of  the  supreme  moment  brings  silence  to 
the  trembling  line,  save  only  low  mutterings  over 
the  final  adjustment  for  places.  Men  who  have  never 
seen  a  hundred  dollars  at  one  time  in  their  lives 
now  see  thousands  in  their  grasp  if  only  they  can 
place  themselves  among  the  winners;  and  there  are 
five  men  to  every  prize.  Out  one  hundred  yards  in 
front,  and  twice  as  far  apart,  stand  soldiers  with 
loaded  rifles.  Some,  already  drunk  with  the  antici- 
pated excitement,  care  more  for  the  game  than  for 
the  stakes  to  be  won  or  lost,  but  to  many  a  man  in 
that  line  who  has  staked  his  last  dollar  on  the  one 
chance  to  win  more  than  he  can  ever  earn,  those 

253 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

last  minutes  are  a  long,  hot  agony  of  suspense. 
Suddenly  a  revolver  is  accidentally  discharged;  a 
middle-aged  man,  in  the  frenzy  of  the  moment,  mis- 
takes it  for  the  starting  gun,  and  with  a  bound  his 
horse  shoots  over  the  line. 

"  Hold  on  there !  Come  back !  "  yells  the  crowd 
in  wild  discord,  and  the  man  imagines  the  crazy 
horde  racing  at  his  heels. 

"  Halt !  "  commands  the  soldier  in  front,  bringing 
his  rifle  to  position ;  but  the  man  hears  nothing,  sees 
nothing,  thinks  of  nothing  except  the  prize  ahead. 
The  soldier  drops  to  his  knee,  and  aims;  there 
is  no  report  above  the  din  of  the  excited  mass  at 
the  line  —  only  a  puff  of  smoke ;  the  old  man 
topples  from  his  horse  —  dead,  with  a  bullet  in  his 
brain. 

Twelve  o'clock.  The  report  of  the  signal  gun  is 
echoed  down  the  miles  of  line  from  every  soldier's 
rifle,  and  with  a  dull  roar  that  makes  the  earth 
tremble  the  racers  are  off!  Horsemen,  buggies, 
buck-boards,  wagons,  as  far  either  way  as  one  can 
see  —  and  prairie  schooners,  too,  lumbering  and 
pitching  in  the  rear.  Away  over  the  rolling  prairie 
they  speed,  disappearing  finally  on  the  distant  hills 
like  a  lot  of  scared  jackrabbits,  now  well  strung 
out.  Suddenly  a  trained  race-horse  goes  down  — 
he  has  learned  his  first  lesson  in  badger  holes.  A 
bullet  from  his  master's  gun  ends  the  animal's  suf- 
fering, and  with  him  goes  his  master's  last  chance. 

254 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

It  is  sixty-six  miles  across  the  strip,  but  another 
line  is  racing  up  from  the  south.  Half-way,  if 
they  run  so  far,  the  unlucky  ones  in  the  two  lines 
must  meet,  and  turn  back. 

On  they  go,  with  now  the  fleet  horsemen  well  out 
of  sight  ahead,  and  the  prairie  schooners  as  well 
out  of  sight  behind.  It  is  hot,  —  a  hundred  in  the 
shade,  and  no  shade ;  and  dry,  —  no  rain  has  fallen 
for  weeks,  and  not  a  green  thing  is  to  be  seen; 
no  water  anywhere,  and  a  strong  head  wind. 

There  is  smoke  ahead  —  a  prairie  fire !  The  cow- 
boys in  advance,  impelled  by  a  cheerful  desire  to 
impede  those  following,  have  fired  the  dry  prairie. 
The  grass  is  short,  and  a  prairie  fire  runs  ahead  of 
itself  in  spots;  it  is  easy  to  get  through  the  breaks 
in  the  fire-line  —  if  the  grass  is  short.  But  word 
comes  along  the  line  that  the  fire  has  caught  a 
schooner  in  the  tall  grass  of  a  ravine,  —  and  there 
is  one  less  family  to  people  the  new  country. 

The  boomers  are  continually  dropping  off  to  plant 
their  little  flags  —  some  one  will  get  this  land,  and 
why  not  they?  Here  a  man  finds  himself  in  a  wide 
stretch  with  no  one  near ;  he  "  strikes,"  then  lei- 
surely searches  for  the  corner-stone.  A  school  sec- 
tion. "  Damn !  "  And  he  has  no  second  chance,  for 
the  line  has  swept  past  him. 

Four  sections  out  of  every  thirty-six  reserved  for 
school  and  county  funds,  but  with  nothing  to  dis- 
tinguish them;  so  one  out  of  nine  of  the  successful 

255 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

racers  must  draw  blanks  in  Uncle  Sam's  great  game 
of  chance,  in  spite  of  their  success. 

A  young  fellow  has  run  thirteen  miles  in  the  front 
rank  of  the  line,  and  locates  a  beautiful  tract,  but 
he  comes  upon  a  man  calmly  smoking,  while  his 
horse  grazes  peacefully  near,  with  not  a  hair  turned. 
"  Sooner !  "  angrily  charges  the  young  man ;  then 
he  suddenly  looks  down  the  barrel  of  the  sooner's 
gun.  It  is  a  wicked  little  black  hole;  the  young 
man  sees  the  point  of  the  argument,  and  gallops  on. 

Down  in  that  ravine  are  a  few  trees  —  there  are 
no  trees,  except  in  ravines.  There  is  something  un- 
usual about  one  of  these  trees.  Go  nearer,  and  a 
man  hangs  from  one  of  the  limbs.  A  slip  of  paper 
is  pinned  to  the  coat: 

"  Too  Soon  " 

Nothing  more;   a  brief  but  comprehensive  epitaph. 

A  determined  boomer  plants  his  flag  on  a  tract 
of  fine  bottom  land  —  the  prettiest  quarter  section  in 
sight,  he  notes  exultingly.  A  young  tenderfoot  from 
"  back  East  "  unwittingly  plants  his  flag  on  the  same 
tract.  He  thinks  he  is  first,  and  perhaps  he  is.  He 
approaches  the  boomer  to  expostulate,  and  the  boomer 
draws,  but  the  tenderfoot  is  not  familiar  with  that 
line  of  argument.  A  shot;  and  a  pretty  home  in 
New  York  State  will  wait  and  wait  for  news  of 
its  adventurous  son.  The  boomer  turns  from  the 
shivering  form  to  the  little  half-mile  of  land  danc- 

256 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

ing  in  the  hot  sun  before  his  feverish  eyes,  and 
mutters,  "Mine,  mine!" 

Which  of  these  two  is  the  more  miserable  victim 
of  the  Government's  gambling  scheme? 

Evening  comes,  and  with  it  the  wind  dies  down. 
The  dry  air  quickly  cools.  The  great  rush  has  left 
its  members  scattered  over  the  prairie  —  far  too 
many  of  them  for  the  rewards  it  had  to  offer,  but 
the  interminable  fights,  disputes,  and  lawsuits  over 
the  spoils  are  for  other  days.  A  short  communion 
with  the  pail  of  cold  grub  and  the  canteen  of  warm 
water;  then  to  the  blankets,  under  nature's  canopy. 

It  is  a  glorious,  still  night  out  on  the  prairie. 
The  heat,  the  dust,  and  the  wild  excitement  seem 
like  unpleasant  incidents  of  long  ago.  The  heavens 
in  that  clear,  dry  atmosphere  are  fairly  ablaze  with 
stars;  one  cannot  gaze  into  their  quiet  depths  and 
realize  that  within  the  past  few  hours  one  hundred 
thousand  men  have  indulged  the  fiercest  of  human 
passions,  and  for  higher  stakes  than  they  have  ever 
before  dreamed  of.  But  relaxation  comes  after  un- 
natural stress,  and  men  begin  to  know  how  tired 
they  are;  so  winners  and  losers  alike  roll  up  in  their 
blankets  to  sleep.  The  delicious  calm  of  the  night 
is  made  weird  by  the  far-off,  long-drawn-out  cries 
of  the  boomers,  calling  the  numbers  of  their  land : 
"  My  —  number  —  is  —  section  —  township  —  range 
— .  K-e-e-p  —  o-f-f !  "  Then,  after  each  call,  crack ! 
goes  a  rifle,  as  added  warning ;  now  from  one  direc- 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

tion,  perhaps  plainly,  and  again  from  another,  so  far 
away  that  little  more  than  the  faint  report  comes 
out  of  the  darkness. 

With  the  rising  of  the  sun  comes  the  wind,  and 
then  the  heat;  higher  wind,  and  more  fierce  heat. 
Everybody  is  astir.  Some  start  back  for  Kansas  — 
the  exodus  of  the  unlucky  begins  early.  Others  head 
for  the  land  office,  farther  south,  to  file  their  claims, 
and  many  flock  to  the  towns  which  have  sprung  up 
over  night  along  the  railroad.  A  mushroom  town 
is  a  jolly  thing  to  see  —  and  then  to  get  away  from. 
All  through  the  night  freight-wagons  and  the  rail- 
road have  been  bringing  merchandise  and  material 
to  the  town-site,  and  the  stuff  is  piled  everywhere. 
Already  the  lucky  winners  of  town  lots  have  put  up 
tents,  braced  against  the  howling  wind,  and  a  few 
have  begun  work  on  their  cheap  frame  buildings.  It 
is  a  busy  day  in  this  dust-swept  town  for  the  noisy, 
unwashed  multitude,  and  Sunday  at  that.  Sunday, 
and  from  an  improvised  pulpit  under  the  railroad 
water-tank,  a  preacher  delivers  the  first  sermon  to 
a  very  small  but  not  select  audience,  while  a  lively 
vaudeville  show  farther  along  gives  the  town  its 
first  suggestion  of  paint.  But  carpenters,  merchants, 
teamsters,  and  boomers  of  every  description  are  too 
busy  with  the  first  business  of  their  town  to  give 
much  attention  to  either. 

A  tented  restaurant  springs  from  the  ground ;  only 
black  coffee  and  biscuit,  but  the  coffee  is  hot  —  what 

258 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

a  relief  from  cold  grub  and  warm  water!  Business 
is  rushing,  and  long  arms  are  reaching  over  the 
crowd  in  front.  Then  some  one  announces,  "  Lady 
coming !  " 

A  lady!  Instantly,  respectfully,  the  crowd  makes 
a  clear  way  to  the  counter,  and  here  comes  the  lady 
-  Heaven  save  the  name ! 

A  bedraggled,  unwashed,  sand-biting  human  crea- 
ture like  the  rest  of  us,  but  a  female  withal ;  she  may 
be  the  forlorn  wife  of  some  boomer,  or  she  may  be 
the  remnant  of  a  trim  maiden  schoolma'am  from 
"  back  East."  There  is  no  telling  which ;  twenty- 
four  hours  next  to  nature  have  obliterated  all  dis- 
tinguishing marks.  She  shuffles  up  to  the  booth,  gets 
her  creamless  coffee  and  butterless  bun,  and  shuffles 
off  again. 

But  there  is  chivalry  for  you,  put  to  the  severest 
test  and  not  found  wanting.  Plenty  of  men  in  that 
crowd  who  will  fight,  and  shoot  if  necessary,  for 
a  prize  in  Uncle  Sam's  great  lottery,  but  a  respect- 
able woman  is  safer  there  than  on  many  a  city 
street. 

But  human  nature,  and  good  nature,  cannot  long 
stand  under  these  strenuous  conditions,  and  now  the 
exodus  is  on  in  earnest.  Even  the  winners  are  ill- 
prepared  to  live  in  a  treeless,  waterless  country  from 
which  nothing  can  be  gathered  for  a  year.  Back  to 
civilization  the  boomers  wearily  march,  on  horseback, 
on  foot,  in  wagons, — and  the  prairie  schooners  again, 

259 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

with  their  stoves,  and  chairs,  and  babies,  and  chickens, 
—  but  what  a  changed  lot  from  the  expectant,  ex- 
cited boomers  of  a  few  days  ago!  Worn  out,  dirty, 
disgusted;  supplies  gone,  money  gone,  hope  gone, 
and  cursing  their  luck.  Many  corner  stores,  if  the 
orators  succeed  in  getting  "  back  home,"  are  going 
to  hear  caustic  lectures  on  the  mistakes  of  the 
Government. 

So  this  motley  crowd  of  disappointed  boomers 
works  its  passage  back  to  loway,  and  Ill'moiay,  and 
to  all  the  other  ways  which  had  known  them  before 
the  great  fever  to  get  something  for  nothing  took 
possession  of  their  senses.  Some  —  good  sports, 
good  losers  —  laugh  at  their  own  folly,  and  thank 
Heaven  for  returning  sanity.  Others  stare  into  the 
face  of  ruin  —  they  had  burned  their  bridges  be- 
hind them,  and  are  stranded,  perhaps  with  families, 
in  a  strange  land.  And  the  families?  The  stran- 
gers' corner  in  many  a  Kansas  cemetery  can  show 
little  mounds  —  and  sometimes  larger  ones  —  made 
in  September,  1893. 

And  what  was  it  all  about?  Did  they  want  land 
to  cultivate,  land  on  which  to  establish  homes? 

Not  one  in  ten,  for  not  one  in  ten  of  the  winners 
made  homes  of  their  winnings  more  than  long  enough 
to  get  their  patents  and  sell  out. 

It  was  the  value  in  this  land  above  the  Govern- 
ment price  —  the  value  which  the  Indian  had  given 
up  in  his  bargain  with  the  Great  Father  —  that 

260 


Dividing  the  Spoils 

brought  these  adventurers  from  all  parts  of  the 
country.  It  was  the  wild  chance  to  come  in  for  a 
share  of  their  Government's  spoils  that  aroused  them 
to  a  gambling  pitch. 

Deluded  fools!  They  furnished  a  boom  for  the 
new  country,  and  left  millions  of  their  good  dollars 
in  the  land  of  the  Vociferous  Few  who  had  engi- 
neered the  whole  scheme.  Easy  victims! 

A  grotesque  method,  this,  for  settling  the  public 
domain.  But  the  opening  of  the  Cherokee  Strip  was 
an  object-lesson  in  governmental  rectitude  com- 
pared with  the  latest  developed  scheme  for  dividing 
the  spoils  in  the  Indian  country.  Not  until  the 
year  1904  did  the  Vociferous  Few  demonstrate  to 
what  length  a  half-dozen  men  can  safely  go,  with 
the  aid  of  a  willing  Congress,  in  the  gentle  art  of 
buncoing  the  Indian  and  hoodwinking  the  public. 


261 


UNCLE   SAM,   TRUSTEE. 

"By  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America:  A  PROCLAMA- 
TION :  Whereas,  by  an  agreement  between  the  Sioux  tribe  of  Indians 
on  the  Rosebud  reservation,  in  the  State  of  South  Dakota,  on  the  one 
part,  and  James  McLaughlin,  a  United  States  Indian  inspector,  on  the 
other  part,  amended  and  ratified  by  act  of  Congress  approved  April  23, 
1904  (Public  No.  148),  the  said  Indian  tribe  ceded,  conveyed,  trans- 
ferred, relinquished,  and  surrendered,  forever  and  absolutely,  without 
any  reservation  whatsoever,  expressed  or  implied,  unto  the  United 
States  of  America  all  their  claim,  title,  and  interest  of  every  kind 
and  character  in  and  to  the  unallotted  lands  embraced  in  the  follow- 
ing-described tract  of  country  now  in  the  State  of  South  Dakota,  to 
wit.  .  .  ." 

THE  public  is  thus  informed  of  the  manner 
in  which  a  portion  of  the  Rosebud  Indian 
reservation   was   added   to   the  public   do- 
main.    The  proclamation  then  proceeds  to  explain 
in    detail    the    method    of    opening    these    lands    to 
public   entry   under   the   general   provisions   of   the 
homestead  law. 

It  is  proposed  to  show  — 

That  the  above  statement  intentionally  conceals  the 
truth,  and  misleads  the  public  into  the  belief  that 
the  act  of  Congress  taking  these  Indian  lands  was 
in  accordance  with  an  agreement  with  the  Indians. 

That  no  agreement  with  the  Indians  existed  bear- 
ing the  faintest  resemblance  to  the  provisions  of  this 
act. 

262 


SPOTTED  TAIL  AND 
(i877) 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

That  by  this  act  Congress  took  over  the  Indian 
lands  on  terms  of  its  own,  which  were  never  sub- 
mitted to  the  Indians  for  their  approval. 

That  Congress  alleged  an  agreement  with  the  In- 
dians as  a  basis  for  the  act  when  no  such  agree- 
ment existed,  for  the  studied  purpose  of  covering 
up  the  confiscation  of  nearly  one  million  dollars  of 
Indian  land  value. 

To  prove  the  truth  of  these  accusations  one  need 
not  go  beyond  the  range  of  facts  easily  accessible, 
but  their  serious  nature  compels  a  discussion  of  this 
one  event  in  the  affairs  of  the  Rosebud  Indians, 
to  the  exclusion  of  a  more  general  history  of  the 
tribe. 

As  a  premise  it  will  be  sufficient  to  say  that  the 
Rosebud  Sioux,  numbering  about  five  thousand,  oc- 
cupy a  large  reservation  in  the  southeast  corner  of  the 
original  great  Sioux  reservation.  For  a  considerable 
distance  its  eastern  boundary  is  —  or  was,  until  the 
act  of  1904  moved  it  westward  —  the  Missouri  River; 
Nebraska  lies  on  the  south,  the  Pine  Ridge  reser- 
vation joins  it  on  the  west,  and  to  the  northward  is 
the  great  cattle  range  country  of  South  Dakota. 

It  was  to  the  Rosebud  country  that  the  great 
Sioux  Chief  Spotted  Tail  led  his  dissatisfied  people, 
when,  in  1878,  he  evacuated  the  Ponca  homes  so 
kindly  placed  at  his  disposal  by  the  Government. 
For  the  accommodation  of  Spotted  Tail  the  Rose- 
bud agency  was  established,  and  a  large  portion  of 

263 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

these  Indians  to-day  are  the  old  followers  of  Spotted 
Tail,  or  their  descendants. 

By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  Rosebud  reserve 
lies  within  the  area  of  insufficient  rainfall,  and  is 
good  only  for  grazing.  The  increase  in  altitude  is 
rapid  as  one  goes  westward  from  the  Missouri  River, 
up  the  great  slope  that  leads  to  the  Black  Hills,  and 
then  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  beyond.  But  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  Missouri  River  are  large  sections  of 
exceedingly  fertile  agricultural  lands;  in  fact,  the 
only  strictly  agricultural  lands  on  the  whole  reserve 
lie  at  its  eastern  end.  Naturally,  then,  the  eastern 
end  became  of  especial  interest  to  the  land  speculators. 

In  respect  to  cessions  of  land  the  Sioux  nation 
has  sustained  a  relation  to  the  Government  differing 
greatly  from  that  of  other  Indian  tribes,  by  virtue 
of  an  iron-clad  article  in  their  fundamental  treaty 
of  1868,  known  as  the  treaty  of  Fort  Laramie: 

"  Article  XII.  No  treaty  for  the  cession  of  any 
portion  or  part  of  the  reservation  herein  described 
which  may  be  held  in  common  shall  be  of  any  valid- 
ity or  force  as  against  the  said  Indians  unless  exe- 
cuted and  signed  by  at  least  three-fourths  of  all  the 
adult  male  Indians  occupying  and  interested  in  the 
same.  .  .  ." 

There  is  a  directness  of  intent  in  this  article  not 
often  found  in  Indian  treaties.  No  treaties  are  made 
with  Indians  which  are  not  for  cessions  of  land; 
consequently,  instead  of  representing  the  consent  of 

264 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

a  few  favored  chiefs,  every  treaty  or  agreement  since 
1868  with  any  of  the  numerous  Sioux  tribes  has 
been  compelled  to  exhibit  the  signatures  of  three- 
fourths  of  the  adult  males  concerned.  If  one  won- 
ders how  an  Indian  treaty  happened  to  contain  a 
provision  so  sweeping,  so  certain  in  its  meaning,  and 
wholly  without  the  usual  convenient  loophole,  "  at 
the  discretion  of  the  President,"  or  some  other  au- 
thority vested  in  the  party  of  the  first  part,  —  a 
trick  that  has  let  the  force  out  of  nearly  every  In- 
dian treaty,  —  he  should  remember  that  in  1868  the 
Sioux  nation  could  muster  as  many  warriors  as  the 
whole  United  States  army  was  able  to  send  against 
them;  the  settlements  of  the  great  Northwest,  the 
Union  Pacific  railroad,  —  then  building,  —  and  at 
times  even  the  army  itself,  were  at  the  mercy  of 
such  powerful  chiefs  as  Spotted  Tail,  and  Red 
Cloud,  made  desperate  by  what  they  regarded  as 
the  invasion  of  their  country,  and  the  extinction  of 
their  game.  The  treaty  of  Fort  Laramie  was  no 
one-party  affair;  but  even  under  the  stern  neces- 
sity of  securing  protection  for  the  frontier  and  the 
cessation  of  hostilities,  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether 
this  covenant  would  have  found  a  place  in  the  treaty 
without  some  undermining  provision  attached,  had 
its  lasting  import  been  fully  realized. 

Coming  at  once  to  the  events  directly  concerned 
in  this  discussion,  in  the  summer  of  1901  United 
States  Indian  Inspector  James  McLaughlin  negoti- 

265 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

ated  an  agreement  with  the  Rosebud  Indians  for 
the  purchase  of  416,000  acres  at  the  eastern  end  of 
their  reservation.  This  tract  included  the  entire 
frontage  on  the  Missouri  River,  and  practically  all 
of  the  agricultural  land  on  the  reservation.  Nearly 
one-half  of  the  tract,  however,  consisted  of  strictly 
grazing  land,  worth  but  little  more  for  stock-raising 
purposes  than  the  western  portion  of  the  reserve  left 
to  the  Indians,  except  that  it  was  nearer  to  the  river 
and  to  transportation  facilities. 

The  price  was  fixed  at  two  dollars  and  a  half  per 
acre,  or  one  million  and  forty  thousand  dollars ;  nearly 
half  of  the  sum  was  to  be  paid  to  the  Indians,  in 
money  and  live-stock,  upon  ratification  of  the 
agreement,  the  remainder  to  follow  in  four  annual 
cash  installments. 

The  agreement  was  signed  according  to  the  treaty 
of  1868  by  1031  Indians,  that  number,  as  the  agent 
certifies,  "  being  twelve  more  than  three-fourths  of 
the  male  adult  Indians  of  the  Rosebud  reservation." 

Although,  according  to  a  subsequent  report  of  no 
less  an  authority  than  the  Honorable  Commissioner 
himself,  "  when  the  agreement  of  September  14, 
1901,  was  being  concluded,  the  Indians  argued  with 
great  persistency  that  their  lands  were  worth  more 
than  two  dollars  and  a  half  per  acre,  and  they  were 
almost  unanimous  in  declaring  that  they  were  well 
worth  five  dollars  per  acre,"  it  is  not  the  intention 
to  question  here  the  methods  used  to  obtain  the 

266 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

agreement,  but  to  accept  it  as  bond  fide.  The  farm- 
ing land  was,  of  course,  worth  several  times  two 
dollars  and  a  half  per  acre,  but  the  grazing  land 
would,  in  1901,  have  scarcely  sold  for  one  dollar 
and  a  half. 

This  agreement  was  to  be  binding  upon  the  In- 
dians "  when  accepted  and  ratified  by  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States."  A  bill  embodying  its  pro- 
visions was  presented  at  the  next  session  of  Con- 
gress, but  it  was  not  passed;  in  the  vernacular  of 
Washington  the  bill  was  "  killed  "  somewhere  among 
the  committees.  The  agreement,  consequently,  was 
not  accepted  nor  ratified.  The  explanation  current 
at  that  time  for  the  failure  of  the  scheme  was  that 
it  was  then  inexpedient  to  ask  Congress  for  the  large 
appropriation  required  to  pay  for  the  land. 

Beginning  with  1901  a  most  remarkable  wave  of 
land  speculation  swept  over  the  West  like  a  tre- 
mendous thunder-shower,  leaving  a  rain  of  gold  in 
its  path.  The  storm  seemed  to  centre  first  in  South 
Dakota,  and  like  most  storms  in  the  Northwest  it 
moved  northward.  After  delighting  the  hearts  and 
filling  the  pocket-books  of  the  North  Dakotans,  it 
finally  spent  itself  in  the  Canadian  Northwest.  Land 
values  in  South  Dakota  were  doubled,  then  trebled; 
in  many  instances  they  were  quadrupled  within  two 
years.  At  no  time,  curiously  enough,  even  in  the 
height  of  the  buying,  was  there  any  considerable 
immigration  of  permanent  settlers;  the  buyers  were 

267 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

mainly  wealthy  farmers  and  country  bankers  from 
Iowa  and  adjacent  States,  augmented  by  a  consid- 
erable force  of  chronic  speculators  from  everywhere. 
Not  in  a  dozen  years  had  so  much  land  been  sold 
as  in  the  two  years  of  this  speculative  boom.  It  was 
a  natural  reaction  from  the  long  period  of  land  de- 
pression which  followed  the  disastrous  western  mort- 
gage business  of  the  eighties,  and  as  a  net  result 
of  the  general  shaking-up,  South  Dakota  found  her- 
self in  1903  with  normal,  steady  land  values  averag- 
ing throughout  the  State  somewhat  more  than  double 
those  which  prevailed  prior  to  the  welcome  raid  of 
the  speculator. 

This  kaleidoscopic  change  in  the  land  situation 
served  to  intensify,  as  may  be  imagined,  the  sin- 
cere sorrow  of  the  South  Dakota  delegation  in  Con- 
gress over  the  loss  of  a  good  bargain  with  the 
Indians.  But  it  is  in  the  philosophy  of  the  profes- 
sional land-grabber  that  "  while  there 's  an  Indian 
there  's  hope  " ;  pressure  was  again  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  Department  of  the  Interior,  and  in  the 
summer  of  1903  Inspector  McLaughlin  was  again 
on  the  Rosebud  reservation,  endeavoring  to  obtain 
a  renewal  of  the  old  agreement,  modified,  however, 
in  one  important  particular,  so  as  to  avoid  the  neces- 
sity of  asking  Congress  for  any  considerable  ap- 
propriation. Instead  of  the  Government  buying  the 
entire  tract  outright  at  two  dollars  and  a  half  per 
acre,  as  previously  proposed,  the  Indians  were  asked 

268 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

to  let  the  Government,  as  trustee,  open  the  lands  for 
white  settlement  at  the  same  flat  price  of  two  dollars 
and  a  half,  pay  the  Indians  the  money  only  as  col- 
lected from  the  settlers,  and  guarantee  neither  the 
sale  of  all  of  the  tract,  nor  the  payments. 

Here  was  a  tract  of  land  representing  extremes 
of  value;  rich  agricultural  land,  worth  five  dollars, 
ten,  and  some  even  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre,  on 
the  one  hand ;  on  the  other,  grazing  land  hardly  sal- 
able at  two  dollars.  The  Indians  failed  to  see  why 
they  should  let  the  choice  of  their  land  go  at  the 
average  price  for  the  whole,  and  be  left  with  the 
poorest  on  their  hands.  The  reasonableness  of  their 
position  is  apparent;  a  merchant  having  a  stock  of 
cloths,  part  silks,  the  rest  cottons,  might  fairly  name 
a  flat  price  per  yard  for  the  entire  stock  of  both 
silks  and  cottons;  but  were  he,  in  a  fit  of  mental 
aberration,  to  open  his  store  to  the  retail  trade  at 
that  same  flat  price  per  yard,  first  come  first  served, 
the  public  would  end  the  day  with  rare  bargains  in 
silks,  and  the  merchant  —  with  a  stock  of  cottons. 

Moreover,  the  Indians  refused  to  renew  the  former 
agreement  to  sell  the  entire  tract  at  the  two  dollars 
and  a  half  rate;  a  syndicate  of  capitalists  had  re- 
cently offered  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
five  dollars  per  acre  for  the  same  tract,  and  to  this 
figure  they  persistently  clung. 

Thus  the  scheme  failed.  The  Indians  had  the 
temerity  to  demand  from  the  Government  the  same 

269 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

price  offered  by  a  speculating  syndicate,  and  the  de- 
vice intended  to  capture  the  good  land  for  a  song, 
without  taking  the  poor,  failed  to  entrap  the  Indians. 

Viewed  from  the  professional  boomer's  standpoint, 
there  is  nothing  to  be  gained  by  opening  lands  to 
public  settlement  at  somewhere  near  its  value;  it  is 
not  the  land,  but  the  value  above  its  selling  price, 
that  is  depended  upon  to  bring  a  rush  of  prize-seekers 
into  a  new  country.  The  greater  the  value  to  be 
given  away,  the  more  deluded  fools  with  money  will 
struggle  with  each  other  for  the  few  prizes,  and  the 
greater  the  resulting  boom. 

The  South  Dakota  statesmen  were  sad.  Inspired 
by  the  good  old  saw,  "  if  at  first  you  don't  succeed," 
they  had  tried  again  —  and  failed  again.  But  there 
is  in  the  philosophy  of  the  sanguine  land-grabber 
another  bit  of  cheer,  equally  inspiring  —  "  if  again 
you  don't  succeed,  try  Congress." 

In  Washington,  "  far  from  the  madding  Indians," 
the  schemers  then  gathered  together  and  drafted  a  bill 
after  their  own  liking  for  taking  over  the  Indian 
lands.  Here  is  their  beneficent  proposition: 

The  Indians  were  to  "  cede,  surrender,  grant,  and 
convey  to  the  United  States  all  their  claim,  right, 
title,  and  interest "  to  the  416,000  acres,  excepting 
the  allotments  to  individual  Indians. 

Next,  "  The  United  States  stipulates  and  agrees 
to  pay  for  sections  sixteen  and  thirty-six,  or  an 
equivalent  of  two  sections  in  each  township,  two 

270 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre,"  and  to  deliver  it 
to  the  State  of  South  Dakota  for  school  purposes. 
These  sections  —  two  in  every  thirty-six  —  were  all 
that  the  Government  was  to  pay  for. 

All  the  remaining  land  —  some  382,000  acres  — 
"  shall  be  opened  to  settlement  and  entry  by  procla- 
mation of  the  President,"  the  price  to  be,  "  upon 
all  land  entered  or  filed  upon  within  three  months 
after  the  same  shall  be  opened  for  settlement  and 
entry,  four  dollars  per  acre,1  to  be  paid  as  follows: 
one  dollar  per  acre  when  entry  is  made;  seventy- 
five  cents  per  acre  within  two  years  after  entry;" 
and  seventy-five  cents  each  year  thereafter  until  paid 
for.  This  delivered  to  the  land-grabbers  the  entire 
body  of  agricultural  land,  worth  four,  ten,  fifteen, 
and  in  some  instances  twenty-five  dollars,  at  the  bar- 
gain-store price  of  four  dollars,  and  on  terms  so  easy 
as  to  suit  the  most  vociferous. 

Then,  as  to  the  lands  below  the  four-dollar  mark 
—  comprising  about  one-half  of  the  entire  tract  — 
"  Upon  all  land  entered  or  filed  upon  after  the  ex- 
piration of  three  months  and  within  six  months  after 
the  same  shall  be  opened  for  settlement  and  entry, 
three  dollars  per  acre,"  with  the  same  dollar  paid 
down,  and  fifty  cents  annually  after  two  years.  Of 
course,  very  little  land  not  taken  at  four  dollars 
would  go  for  three  dollars:  this  provision  was  a 

1  In  the  original  draft  of  the  bill  the  maximum  price  was  three  dol- 
lars ;  these  quotations  are  from  the  act  as  passed  by  Congress. 

271 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

mere  pretentious  showing  of  a  sliding  scale  of  prices, 
designed  to  cover  the  main  attack  on  the  left-over 
lands. 

This  final  steal  was  a  clever  piece  of  work.  The 
value  of  these  grazing  lands  was  not  much  below 
two  dollars  and  a  half  per  acre,  even  under  the 
handicap  of  the  homestead  law,  which  required  a 
nominal  residence  of  at  least  fourteen  months  upon 
the  land;  another  wave  of  speculation,  or  a  couple 
of  good  cattle  years,  would  double,  perhaps  treble, 
their  value  —  and  such  a  turn  in  the  market  might 
come  at  any  time. 

So,  in  anticipation  of  the  happy  day,  the  plotters 
decreed  that  all  land  left  over  from  the  first  two 
sales  was  to  remain  open  to  homestead  entry  at  two 
dollars  and  a  half  per  acre  for  a  period  of  three 
and  one-half  years  more ;  and  finally,  any  land  "  re- 
maining undisposed  of  at  the  expiration  of  four 
years  from  the  taking  effect  of  this  act,  shall  be 
sold  and  disposed  of  for  cash,  under  rules  and  regu- 
lations to  be  prescribed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior." 

Thus,  if  the  grazing  lands  should  advance  to  five 
dollars,  the  Indians  would  get  two  'dollars  and  a 
half;  if  prices  should  remain  stationary,  or  decline, 
the  lands  were  to  be  sold  for  whatever  they  would 
bring.  The  land-grabbers  were  to  take  the  gain  in 
values,  and  the  Indians  the  loss. 

And  the  last  words  of  this  precious  act  carefully 
272 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

explain  that  Uncle  Sam  does  not  "  guarantee  to  find 
purchasers  for  said  lands,  or  any  portion  thereof,  it 
being  the  intention  of  this  act  that  the  United  States 
shall  act  as  trustee  for  said  Indians  to  dispose  of 
said  lands  and  to  expend  and  pay  over  the  proceeds 
received  from  the  sale  thereof  only  as  received,  as 
herein  provided." 

Three  separate  peculations  were  developed  in  this 
scheme : 

First,  the  Big  Steal  —  the  confiscation  of  every 
dollar  of  Indian  value  above  the  four-dollar-per-acre 
mark. 

Second,  the  Long  Steal  —  the  four-year  open  game 
of  "  heads  I  win,  tails  you  lose,"  for  the  grazing 
lands. 

Third,  the  Little  Steal  —  the  taking  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  some  twenty-three  thousand  acres  at  two 
dollars  and  a  half  —  exactly  half  the  price  offered 
by  the  syndicate. 

Thus  the  Rosebud  bill  was  drafted.  To  give  it 
any  measure  of  reputable  standing,  the  endorsement 
of  three-fourths  of  the  male  Indians  was  absolutely 
essential;  but  their  endorsement  was  out  of  the 
question. 

One  other  way  was  open  to  the  conspirators,  — 
that  was  to  take  advantage  of  a  recent  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  abrogate  the  time-honored  Sioux 
treaty,  and  take  the  land  without  the  Indian  consent. 

On  January  5,  1903,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
18  273 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

United  States,  in  deciding  the  Lone  Wolf  case,  de- 
clared that  "  The  power  exists  [in  Congress]  to 
abrogate  the  provisions  of  an  Indian  treaty."  This 
sweeping  declaration  was  attended  by  many  sug- 
gestions of  limitation,  of  caution,  and  of  the  grave 
responsibility  laid  upon  Congress  to  exercise  this 
trust  with  due  regard  for  the  national  honor: 

"  Presumably  such  power  will  be  exercised  only 
when  circumstances  arise  which  will  not  only  justify 
the  Government  in  disregarding  the  stipulations  of 
the  treaty,  but  may  demand,  in  the  interest  of  the 
Government  and  the  Indians  themselves,  that  it 
should  do  so."  And  again,  "  In  a  contingency  such 
power  might  be  availed  of  from  considerations  of 
governmental  policy,  particularly  if  consistent  with 
perfect  good  faith  toward  the  Indians." 

Still  again  the  decision  bears  upon  Congress  its 
moral  responsibility: 

"  We  must  presume  that  Congress  acted  in  perfect 
good  faith  in  the  dealings  with  the  Indians,  .  .  .  and 
that  the  legislative  branch  of  the  Government  exer- 
cised its  best  judgment  in  the  premises." 

In  this  decision  the  Supreme  Court  virtually  pro- 
nounced the  death  sentence  upon  the  Indian's  treaty 
rights,  with  the  supplication  —  "  And  may  Congress 
have  mercy  on  his  soul ! "  as  though  it  feared  the 
worst. 

Indian  treaties  since  the  beginning  have  never  been 
deserving  of  the  name  of  "  treaties  " ;  nearly  every 

274 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

stipulation  in  the  Indians'  favor  has  been  provisional, 
ambiguous,  or  directly  subject  to  the  discretion  of 
the  Government.  "  Articles  of  Guardianship  "  would 
have  been  a  better  name  for  the  fairer  ones,  and 
"  Sharp  Bargains  "  for  the  majority.  Though  pro- 
fessing to  be  treaties,  at  no  time  have  they  had  the 
standing  of  treaties  made  with  the  most  insignificant 
of  outside  nations  —  and  in  the  very  nature  of  things 
such  recognition  was  impossible.  Yet  for  one  hun- 
dred years  the  United  States  hypocritically  bargained 
with  the  aborigines  under  the  guise  of  treating  with 
competent  nations.  The  name  "  treaty  "  was  aban- 
doned in  1871,  although  the  business  has  since  been 
continued  under  the  name  of  "  agreements." 

The  appalling  feature  of  this  radical  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court  lies,  not  in  proclaiming  the  hol- 
lowness  of  these  treaty  farces,  but  in  the  naming 
of  the  Indian's  guardian  —  Congress,  the  amiable 
Pontius  Pilate  of  the  Indian  race,  always  ready  to 
yield  to  the  clamor  of  the  Faithful !  It  is  impossible 
to  estimate  the  disasters  that  may  come  to  the  In- 
dian as  a  result  of  this  decision.  The  Indians' 
friends  have  welcomed  with  one  accord  the  break- 
ing up  of  the  reservation  system,  the  allotment  of 
lands  in  severalty,  and  the  curtailment  of  rations  — 
but  with  these  steps  in  advance  comes  the  necessity 
for  the  sale  of  the  surplus  Indian  lands.  At  this 
critical  time,  when  the  proper  establishment  of  the 
Indian  in  his  new  relation  as  an  individual  de- 

275 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

mands  that  his  small  remaining  patrimony  be  most 
conscientiously  realized  upon,  he  is  deprived  of  all 
voice  in  his  own  affairs  and  the  disposal  of  his  land 
goes  into  the  general  stock-in-trade  of  that  great 
political  trading-post,  Congress. 

But  over  this  doubtful  course  through  the  con- 
gressional clearing-house  the  South  Dakota  states- 
men hesitated  to  send  the  Rosebud  bill.  There  was 
nothing  in  it  to  "  justify  the  Government  in  disre- 
garding the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  " ;  the  interest 
of  the  Indians  was  not  considered;  it  was  wholly 
"  ^consistent  with  perfect  good  faith  toward  the 
Indians." 

Nothing  but  an  unadorned  display  of  its  arbitrary 
power  to  "  abrogate  the  provisions  of  an  Indian 
treaty  "  would  enable  Congress  to  pass  this  bill.  It 
might  as  well  be  labelled,  "  An  act  to  confiscate  all 
value  in  the  Rosebud  lands  above  four  dollars  per 
acre,  and  deliver  it  to  the  Faithful."  That  would 
have  been  an  honest  title,  and  the  power  exists  in 
Congress  to  pass  just  that  kind  of  a  bill. 

The  land  schemers  discarded  the  open  course  as 
too  dangerous.  Nothing  remained  but  to  railroad 
the  bill  through  under  color  of  the  Fort  Laramie 
treaty.  In  the  absence  of  an  agreement  with  the 
Indians,  it  became  necessary  to  allege  an  agreement, 
so  the  discarded  agreement  of  1901  was  resurrected 
and  attached  to  the  bill. 

It  was  a  plain  agreement  to  sell  the  entire  tract 
276 


Two  STRIKES,  —  BRUL£  Sioux 
(1878) 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

outright  to  the  Government  at  two  dollars  and  a 
half  per  acre;  it  bore  not  even  a  family  resemblance 
to  the  provisions  of  the  proposed  bill;  it  had  been 
once  presented  and  refused  in  Congress,  and  later 
repudiated  by  the  Indians;  land  values  had  more 
than  doubled  in  the  two  years  which  had  elapsed; 
but  what  of  it? 

"  An  agreement  with  the  Indians  "  —  that  so  dis- 
armed general  suspicion,  both  in  and  outside  of 
Congress,  that  the  Indians'  friends  protested  almost 
in  vain  when  the  bill  appeared  in  January,  1904. 
Reuben  Quick  Bear,  President  of  the  Rosebud 
Indian  Council,  appealed  to  the  Indian  Rights 
Association  : 

"  If  ever  we  needed  help  we  need  it  now,  and 
badly.  ...  A  real  estate  man  recently  went  over 
it  and  told  a  friend  of  mine  that  he  would  gladly 
give  $10  an  acre  for  the  whole  tract,  and  could 
raise  the  money  in  three  weeks.  Over  a  year  ago 
a  syndicate  offered  the  Commissioner  $5  per  acre 
for  the  whole  tract,  and  land  around  here  has  since 
doubled  in  value.  We  only  ask  $5  per  acre.  .  .  . 

"  Ask  that  three  men  be  appointed  to  value  the 
land  —  one  to  be  appointed  by  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs,  one  by  the  Indians,  and  these  two 
to  select  a  third,  as  was  done  when  the  Omaha 
reservation  was  valued  years  ago.  If  this  proposal 
is  entertained  the  South  Dakota  delegation  will  at 
once  consent  to  $5  per  acre,  as  they  well  know  that 

277 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

any  half-way  fair  valuation  would  be  far  more  than 
that.  .  .  ." 

But  the  South  Dakota  delegation  did  not  propose 
to  have  daylight  let  into  their  scheme  by  three  im- 
partial appraisers. 

Newspaper  articles  appeared,  scoring  the  bill  in 
language  picturesque.  A  periodical  of  the  highest 
authority  on  current  affairs  came  out  with  a  broad- 
side against  the  bill,  denounced  both  the  scheme 
itself  and  its  "  agreement "  disguise,  and  strongly 
urged  a  competitive  "sale  of  the  lands  under  home- 
stead restrictions  as  the  only  sane,  honorable  method 
of  realizing  for  the  Indians  the  full  value  of  their 
surplus  lands.  But  land  everywhere  is  offered  at 
competitive  sale;  boomers  do  not  rush  in  to  spend 
money  for  land  offered  at  its  value. 

Congress  was  not  without  official  information  and 
advice  during  its  deliberations.  The  Honorable  Com- 
missioner of  Indian  Affairs,  in  reporting  the  bill  to 
Congress,  had  this  to  say: 

"  When  the  agreement  of  September  14,  1901, 
was  being  concluded,  the  Indians  argued  with  great 
persistency  that  their  lands  were  worth  more  than 
$2.50  per  acre,  and  they  were  almost  unanimous  in 
declaring  that  they  were  well  worth  $5  per  acre.  .  .  . 
In  fact  one  offer  was  made  by  parties  to  take  all  the 
lands  covered  by  the  cession  at  the  rate  of  $5  per 
acre.  .  .  . 

"  The  Indians  cannot  see  .  .  .  why  they  should 
278 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

not  procure  such  price  for  the  lands  as  settlers  are 
willing  to  pay  for  them.  The  Indians  in  their  talks 
have  shown  themselves  to  be  not  unreasonable  in 
their  demands,  but  simply  persisted  in  demanding 
what  they  believed  to  be  just  and  proper.  .  .  ." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  shortcomings  of 
Indian  Commissioners  in  years  past,  the  Indian 
office  during  the  last  few  years  has  been  adminis- 
tered by  sincere  friends  of  the  Indian.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  Indian  situation  more  gratifying  than 
this,  at  a  time  when  the  last  of  the  Indian's  patri- 
mony is  absolutely  at  the  disposal  of  Congress. 

But  the  efforts  of  the  Indian  Rights  Association 
and  the  plain  statement  of  the  Commissioner  served 
only  to  raise  the  maximum  price,  originally  three 
dollars,  to  four  dollars  per  acre.  Nothing  but  a 
thoroughly  aroused  public  opinion  can  move  Con- 
gress, and  public  opinion  could  not  be  aroused  in 
the  face  of  "  an  agreement  with  the  Indians." 

Then,  with  the  declaration,  "  That  the  said  agree- 
ment be,  and  the  same  hereby  is,  accepted,  ratified, 
and  confirmed  as  herein  amended  and  modified,  as 
follows : "  —  the  Rosebud  bill  became  a  law  in 
April,  1904,  as  though  an  agreement  between  two 
parties,  changed  out  of  all  resemblance  to  its  origi- 
nal self  by  one  of  the  parties  without  the  consent  of 
the  other,  were  entitled  to  the  name  "  agreement  " ! 

Thus  ends  the  first  act  in  the  Rosebud  land  scandal. 
The  second  has  to  do  with  the  division  of  the  spoils. 

279 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

The  Rosebud  bill  provides,  "  That  the  lands  ceded 
to  the  United  States  under  said  agreement  .  .  .  shall 
be  opened  to  settlement  and  entry  by  proclamation 
of  the  President,  which  proclamation  shall  prescribe 
the  manner  in  which  these  lands  may  be  settled 
upon,"  etc.,  but  at  the  prices  and  terms  set  down 
in  the  act. 

Never  before  had  such  acute  conditions  been 
confronted  at  a  distribution  of  public  land.  The 
Rosebud  tract  bordered  upon  well-settled,  prosper- 
ous farming  country;  adjacent  railroads  and  cities 
furnished  the  necessary  elements  for  a  most  pro- 
digious boom ;  immense  value  above  the  four-dollar 
price  was  to  be  given  away;  and,  with  it  all,  the 
West  was  land-crazy.  The  usual  "  rush  at  the  crack 
of  a  gun  "  was  out  of  the  question.  The  stakes  were 
too  high.  Frenzied  boomers  would  tear  each  other 
to  pieces. 

A  very  different  scheme  was  adopted  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  Rosebud  lands.  Instead  of  the  fierce 
rush  at  a  given  signal,  the  choice  of  lands  was  to 
be  determined  by  a  lottery  drawing.  This  system 
was  first  devised  in  1901  for  the  opening  of  a 
somewhat  remote  tract  of  Indian  land  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  but  it  lent  itself  well  to  the  purposes  of 
the  Rosebud  opening.  The  President's  proclamation 
fully  sets  forth  the  plan : 

"  Each  applicant  who  shows  himself  duly  quali- 
fied will  be  registered  and  given  a  nontransferable 

280 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

certificate  to  that  effect,  which  will  entitle  him  to 
go  upon  and  examine  the  lands  to  be  opened 
hereunder.  .  .  . 

"  The  order  in  which,  during  the  first  sixty  days 
following  the  opening,  the  registered  applicants  will 
be  permitted  to  make  homestead  entry  of  the  lands 
opened  hereunder,  will  be  determined  by  a  draw- 
ing. .  .  .  Preparatory  to  this  drawing  the  registra- 
tion officers  will,  at  the  time  of  registering  each 
applicant  who  shows  himself  duly  qualified,  make 
out  a  card,  which  must  be  signed  by  the  applicant, 
and  giving  such  a  description  of  the  applicant  as  will 
enable  the  local  land  officers  to  thereafter  identify 
him.  This  card  will  be  subsequently  sealed  in  a 
separate  envelope  which  will  bear  no  other  distin- 
guishing label  or  mark  than  such  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  show  that  it  is  to  go  into  the  drawing. 
These  envelopes  will  be  carefully  preserved  and  re- 
main sealed  until  opened  in  the  course  of  the  draw- 
ing herein  provided.  When  the  registration  is  com- 
pleted, all  of  these  sealed  envelopes  will  be  brought 
together  at  the  place  of  drawing  and  turned  over 
to  the  committee  in  charge  of  the  drawing,  who,  in 
such  manner  as  in  their  judgment  will  be  attended 
with  entire  fairness  and  equality  of  opportunity,  shall 
proceed  to  draw  out  and  open  the  separate  envel- 
opes and  to  give  to  each  inclosed  card  a  number  in 
the  order  in  which  the  envelope  containing  the  same 
is  drawn." 

281 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

Then  the  lucky  thousand  or  so  first  out  of  the  box 
were  to  choose  their  prizes  in  the  order  of  their 
numbers. 

And  the  rest?    Merely  blanks. 

The  distribution  of  public  lands  under  the  time- 
honored  homestead  law  was  thus  resolved  into  a 
game  of  chance,  from  which  every  element  of  re- 
ward for  personal  achievement  had  been  eliminated, 
—  a  simon  pure  lottery,  with  the  price  of  admis- 
sion a  trip  to  the  land  office.  As  a  lottery,  its  ab- 
solute fairness  was  vouched  for  by  the  Government; 
but  the  Government  is  on  record  as  unequivocally 
opposed  to  lotteries  of  all  kinds.  The  spectacle  of 
Uncle  Sam  treading  upon  his  own  toes  is,  of  course, 
paradoxical,  but  these  parallel  quotations  are  sig- 
nificant in  view  of  the  wide  circulation  of  the  Presi- 
dent's proclamation  through  the  mails: 

FROM  THE  PRESIDENT'S  FROM  THE  U.  S.  POSTAL 

PROCLAMATION  :  LAWS  : 

"  Each  applicant  will  be  "  No  letter,  postal  card, 
notified  of  his  number,  and  or  circular  concerning  any 
of  the  day  upon  which  he  lottery,  so-called  gift  concert, 
must  make  his  entry,  by  a  or  other  similar  enterprise 
postal  card  mailed  to  him  at  offering  prizes  dependent  upon 
the  address  given  by  him  at  lot  or  chance,  and  no  list  of 
the  time  of  registration."  the  drawings  at  any  lottery  or 

similar   scheme    .    .    .    shall 
be  carried  in  the  mail." 

282 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

"  The  result  of  each  day's  "  Nor  shall  any  newspaper, 
drawing  will  also  be  given  to  circular,  pamphlet,  or  publi- 
the  press  to  be  published  as  cation  of  any  kind  .  .  . 
a  matter  of  news."  containing  any  list  of  prizes 

awarded  at  the  drawings  of 
any  such  lottery  or  gift  enter- 
prise, whether  said  list  is  of 
any  part  or  of  all  of  the 
drawing,  be  carried  in  the 
mail." 

Possibly  there  is  some  technical  evasion  of  liability 
under  the  law;  but  who  will  say  that  the  spirit  of 
the  law  was  not  violated?  The  United  States  postal 
laws,  and  the  several  State  laws  directed  against 
games  of  chance,  do  not  presume  fraud;  they  aim 
to  protect  the  people  from  the  demoralization  that 
comes  from  tempting  offers  of  opportunity  to  get 
something  at  less  than  its  value,  —  something  for 
nothing. 

The  effect  on  the  people  of  this  "  circular  .  .  . 
offering  prizes  dependent  upon  lot  or  chance  "  can 
be  readily  guessed.  Relieved  of  apprehension  as  to 
life  and  limb,  guaranteed  "  fairness  and  equality 
of  opportunity  "  in  a  simple  game  of  chance  where 
the  turn  of  a  card  meant  hundreds,  or  thousands  — 
or  nothing  —  the  gambling  spirit  was  aroused  as  the 
Louisiana  lottery  never  aroused  it.  By  hundreds 
from  the  Eastern  States,  by  thousands  from  the  Cen- 
tral West,  men  flocked  into  South  Dakota  to  "  play 
the  game "  with  Uncle  Sam.  Nearly  three  weeks 

283 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

were  consumed  in  registering  the  multitude  of  ap- 
plicants. Hamlets  of  a  few  hundred  became  tem- 
porary cities  of  ten  thousand.  Gambling  breeds 
gambling,  and  professional  gamblers  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  catered  to  the  absorbing  passion  of 
the  day.  "  Never  in  the  palmy  days  of  Deadwood 
was  gambling  more  rife,"  writes  one  correspondent; 
"  just  about  every  game  ever  invented,  with  the 
single  exception  of  policy,  can  be  found  in  one  or 
more  of  the  public  resorts."  The  carnival  of 
crookedness  led  to  open  defiance  of  the  authorities, 
but  the  better  element  among  the  boomers,  after  a 
pitched  battle  with  the  crooks,  finally  succeeded  in 
checking  the  lawlessness.  The  casualties  of  both 
sides  covering  the  whole  summer  campaign  in  the 
Rosebud  country  were  between  twenty  and  forty, 
including  both  killed  and  wounded.  Twice  during 
the  excitement  formal  demand  was  made  on  the 
Governor  for  State  troops,  but  the  Governor  seems 
to  have  wisely  concluded  to  let  the  motley  crowd 
"  fight  it  out." 

After  the  registration  came  the  drawing. 

There  were  twenty-four  hundred  homesteads  in  the 
entire  Rosebud  tract.  Of  these,  a  thousand  were 
prizes  well  above  the  four-dollar  mark. 

For  a  chance  to  draw  these  one  thousand  prizes, 
106,296  individuals  had  registered  their  applications. 
The  game  stood  one  hundred  to  one  against  the 
players. 

284 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

Remote  as  was  the  chance  of  drawing  a  lucky 
number,  never  was  a  gambling  game  conducted  more 
fairly  and  squarely  than  this  one.  Every  move  in 
the  grand  final  event  was  religiously  referred  to 
Mistress  Chance.  First,  boxes  containing  one  thou- 
sand each  of  the  106,296  envelopes  were  numbered, 
and  the  order  in  which  they  should  be  emptied  into 
the  one  big  drawing-box  was  determined  by  lot.  On 
the  theory  of  "  first  in,  last  out,"  this  preliminary 
event  narrowed  the  probable  winners  down  to  the 
last  few  thousand  cards  deposited  in  the  big  recep- 
tacle. Then,  from  among  eight  boys  named  by  the 
drawing  committee,  four  were  chosen  by  lot  to  draw 
the  numbers  in  turn  from  the  box.  Again  the  boys' 
names  went  into  the  hat,  and  a  third  drawing  de- 
termined the  order  in  which  the  four  lads  were  to 
draw  the  envelopes. 

Finally,  Boy  Number  One,  all  ready  to  draw  Prize 
Number  One,  was  photographed  beside  the  precious 
box  while  the  expectant  throng  held  its  breath. 

Prize  number  one  —  the  best  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  on  the  Rosebud  —  perhaps  next  to  a 
townsite  —  or  a  vantage  point  on  the  Missouri  — 
wherever  the  winner  might  choose  to  locate  his 
little  fortune  —  fell  to  a  clerk  in  the  United  States 
Treasury  Department  at  Washington.  And  the  first 
one  hundred  winners  fared  nearly  as  well.  About 
twelve  hundred  entries  were  made  at  the  four-dollar- 
per-acre  rate. 

285 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

But  the  losers?  One  hundred  and  five  thousand 
of  them.  This  tells  of  only  one: 

"  One  old  man  stood  near  the  edge  of  the  plat- 
form, looking  with  anxious  interest  at  the  drawing. 
Clerk  John  McPhaul,  who  was  in  charge  of  the 
Bonesteel  office,  whose  heart  is  as  kind  as  a  woman's, 
saw  the  old  man  and  beckoned  him  to  come  to  the 
stage  and  offered  him  a  chair.  But  the  old  man  was 
too  interested  to  take  a  chair.  All  during  the  three 
days'  drawing  he  hovered  just  over  the  chairs  of 
the  clerks  who  were  taking  the  names  of  the  lucky 
drawers.  On  the  second  clay  he  was  at  his  post 
when  the  drawing  commenced,  his  old,  weather- 
beaten  face  tense  with  anxiety.  The  third  day 
found  him  still  at  his  post,  anxious,  but  still  hope- 
ful. That  he  was  expecting  to  draw  a  claim  be- 
came noised  around,  and  every  one  was  hopeful  that 
the  old  man  would  be  lucky.  When  the  last  num- 
ber was  drawn  and  his  name  had  not  appeared  the 
old  man  looked  about  in  a  dazed  sort  of  way  and 
shuffled  off  the  platform.  His  shoulders  were  bent 
and  it  was  easy  to  see  that  he  had  suffered  a  deep 
disappointment.  That  old  man  was  probably  a  type 
of  thousands  who  were  scattered  throughout  the 
country." 

And  the  rake-off?  One  hundred  thousand  pil- 
grimages to  the  promised  land,  at  an  average  of 
twenty  dollars  each  —  two  million  dollars  of  expense 
money  left  with  the  South  Dakotans;  this  is  more 

286 


Uncle  Sam,  Trustee 

than  twice  the  sum  that  will  be  paid  to  the  Indians 
for  the  lands  taken;  more  visitors,  and  more  visi- 
tors' money,  than  South  Dakota  had  seen  in  ten 
years.  Did  it  pay?  Of  course  it  paid.  What 
would  a  sane,  competitive  sale  at  fair  value  have 
been,  compared  to  this? 

Who  furnished  the  prizes?  The  Rosebud  Indians, 
—  the  erstwhile  followers  of  the  powerful  Spotted 
Tail.  In  1877  we  saw  the  Poncas  driven  by  Con- 
gress into  worse  than  Siberian  exile  that  it  might 
reward  Spotted  Tail  for  his  valiant  services  in  se- 
curing peace  with  the  Black  Hills  Sioux.  Now  we 
see  the  dwindling  remnant  of  Spotted  Tail's  people 
robbed  by  Congress  that  it  may  pay  its  political  debt 
to  the  stalwart  South  Dakota  delegation. 

And  the  Steal?  The  entries  made  at  both  the 
four-dollar  and  the  three-dollar  rates  will  yield,  if 
all  entrymen  pay  in  full,  about  $850,000;  but  after 
the  first  excitement,  many  will  never  make  the  second 
payment.  What  the  Indians  will  eventually  get  for 
the  remaining  lands  is  problematical,  —  the  four-year 
game  of  "  heads  I  win,  tails  you  lose  "  is  now  on  for 
the  grazing  land.  Taken  as  a  whole,  a  guaranteed 
return  of  one  million  dollars  for  the  tract  would  have 
been  a  better  sale  for  the  Indians;  they  could  have 
sold  for  two  million  dollars.  The  steal?  Approxi- 
mately one  million  dollars. 


287 


CONCLUSION 

HERE  is  the  spectacle:  a  government  founded 
on  the  principle  of  equal  rights  to  all  men, 
securing  to  its  own  citizens  equality  of  op- 
portunity and  fair  play,  while  it  persistently  denies 
both  to  the  Indian.  The  people  earnestly  desire  jus- 
tice for  the  Indian  —  of  this  there  is  no  question. 
Congress  is  made  up  of  the  people's  representatives, 
and  Congress,  ignoring  the  general  sentiment,  has 
from  1789  to  1904  persistently,  steadily  borne  down 
upon  the  Indian  in  the  interest  of  the  few  in  the 
Indian  country. 

Curiously  enough,  each  individual  writer  of  Indian 
history  sees  the  short  cut  to  reform  through  an  ap- 
peal to  the  American  people. 

Bishop  Whipple  of  Minnesota,  who  gave  the  best 
part  of  his  life  to  the  Indian  cause,  declared,  after 
recounting  the  acts  of  broken  faith  which  led  up  to 
the  great  Sioux  massacre  of  1863,  "  I  submit  to 
every  man  the  question  whether  the  time  has  not 
come  for  a  nation  to  hear  the  cry  of  wrong,  if  not 
for  the  sake  of  the  heathen,  for  the  sake  of  the 
memory  of  our  friends  whose  bones  are  bleaching 
on  our  prairies."  This  bookful  of  wrongs,  and 
volumes  more,  have  been  perpetrated  since. 

288 


LITTLE  CROW,  LEADER  OF  Sioux  IN  THE  MINNESOTA  MASSACRE 

(1863) 


Conclusion 

More  than  twenty  years  ago  Helen  Hunt  Jackson 
closed  the  preface  of  her  "  Century  of  Dishonor  " 
thus :  "  It  is  a  shame  which  the  American  nation 
ought  not  to  lie  under,  for  the  American  people,  as 
a  people,  are  not  unjust.  If  there  be  one  thing  which 
they  believe  in  more  than  any  other,  and  mean  that 
every  man  on  this  continent  shall  have,  it  is  fair 
play.  And  as  soon  as  they  fairly  understand  how 
cruelly  it  has  been  denied  to  the  Indian,  they  will 
rise  up  and  demand  it  for  him."  And  the  century 
of  dishonor  has  lengthened  by  another  quarter. 

Col.  Richard  I.  Dodge,  after  thirty-three  years  on 
the  plains  as  Indian  fighter,  displays  in  his  "  A  Liv- 
ing Issue  "  this  same  confiding  hope :  "  It  is  too  much 
to  expect  any  one  of  these  [politicians]  to  risk  the 
loss  of  votes  and  thus  jeopardize  his  future  career 
for  a  miserable  savage.  Politicians  will  do  nothing 
unless  forced  to  it  by  the  great,  brave,  honest,  human 
heart  of  the  American  people.  To  that  I  appeal! 
To  the  press;  to  the  pulpit;  to  every  voter  in  the 
land;  to  every  lover  of  mankind.  For  the  honor 
of  our  common  country;  for  the  sake  of  suffering 
humanity;  force  your  representatives  to  meet  this 
issue." 

This  was  written  more  than  twenty  years  ago. 
What  is  the  matter  with  "  the  great,  brave,  honest, 
human  heart  of  the  American  people  "  ?  Nothing. 
But  a  "  government  of  the  people  "  has  not  much  to 
boast  of  if,  when  so  constituted,  it  fails  to  be  a 
19  289 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

"  government  by  the  people."  This  persistent  mis- 
carriage of  good  intentions  leads  to  the  inquiry 
whether  the  Government  really  does  represent  the 
people. 

It  is  the  ideal  of  statesmanship  that  statesmen  de- 
termine questions  of  national  policy  on  broad  lines 
of  national  expediency,  without  undue  regard  for  the 
more  narrow  desires  of  their  respective  constituents; 
but  it  is  enough  to  expect  of  the  average  represen- 
tative that  on  all  questions  his  views  will  be  more 
or  less  colored  by  the  interests  of  those  to  whom  he 
looks  for  support.  Assuming  that  each  member  of 
Congress  is  indebted  for  his  office  directly  to  the 
people,  and  not  to  other  combined  interests  (but 
what  an  assumption!),  there  is  no  menace  to  the 
public  welfare  in  this  narrower  statesmanship;  the 
resultant  of  their  legislative  efforts  will  be  along 
the  line  of  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number. 

But  the  main  business  of  Congress  —  or,  rather, 
of  congressmen  —  is  not  the  determination  of  na- 
tional issues.  The  final  measure  of  a  congressman's 
political  usefulness  is  his  ability  to  secure  a  fair  share 
of  governmental  favors  for  his  district,  and  for  his 
political  supporters.  Harbor  and  river  improvements, 
fortifications,  dry  docks,  arsenals,  federal  buildings, 
irrigation  plants,  and  ten  thousand  and  one  desirable 
federal  offices,  —  all  these  are  within  the  gift  of 
Congress,  and  every  congressman  has  a  right  to  in- 
dulge the  hope  that,  with  reasonable  endeavor  on 

290 


Conclusion 

his  part,  these  favors  will  be  dealt  out  to  him  in  fair 
proportion  to  his  political  representation.  In  gen- 
eral, each  section  has  its  own  particular  desires,  and 
is  scarcely  interested  in  the  ambitions  of  its  neigh- 
bors except  as  they  affect  its  own  ambitions.  The 
seaboard  town  urging  the  betterment  of  its  harbor 
is  indifferent  to  the  construction  of  jetties  in  the 
Missouri,  while  a  dry  dock  appeals  to  the  western 
member  charged  with  securing  an  irrigation  appro- 
priation merely  as  having  an  unpleasantly  suggestive 
name. 

It  is  no  more  than  natural  that  from  these  con- 
ditions there  should  have  developed  in  Congress  an 
elaborate  system  for  the  exchange  of  support  in  the 
business  of  securing  these  local  favors;  in  view  of 
the  expectations  of  his  constituents,  it  is  not  only 
natural,  but  necessary,  that  a  congressman,  even  a 
conscientious  congressman,  study  the  distribution  of 
his  influence  as  much  with  reference  to  the  returns 
it  will  bring  in  exchange  as  to  the  merits  of  the 
schemes  to  which  he  lends  it.  Even  in  this  business 
—  and  it  is  strictly  business,  not  statesmanship  — 
there  need  be  no  menace  to  the  national  honor;  to 
gain  strategic  advantage  for  one  good  cause  by  skil- 
fully advancing  other  good  causes,  is  good  business. 

But  the  descent  from  the  ideals  of  statesmanship 
to  the  realm  of  hand-to-hand  business  is  a  descent 
from  the  forum  of  public  discussion  to  intrigue  and 
private  agreement.  In  this  lies  the  danger.  A  not 

291 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

too  close  scrutiny  of  the  projects  to  which  he  gives 
his  approval  brings  to  the  congressman  a  greater 
measure  of  support;  in  turn,  if  his  supporters  are 
equally  accommodating,  his  own  demands  for  gov- 
ernmental favors  may  safely  assume  questionable 
proportions.  Every  tendency  within  the  system  is 
reactively  downward;  constituencies,  knowing  little 
of  methods,  are  quick  to  recognize  success;  and  it 
is  the  natural  tendency  that  only  "  successful  "  men 
are  returned  to  Congress.  With  the  strengthening 
of  this  class  comes  increased  opportunity  under  the 
peculiar  methods  of  the  trading  system. 

Now,  among  these  numerous  favors  at  the  disposal 
of  Congress  place  the  American  Indian. 

"  But,"  you  say,  "  harbors,  and  dry  docks,  and 
federal  patronage  are  material  things,  reasonably  to 
be  trafficked  in;  with  the  Indian  and  his  affairs  you 
introduce  the  human  element,  —  you  place  the  wel- 
fare of  human  beings  on  a  level  with  mere  chattels 
in  the  political  market." 

That  is  just  where  the  Indian  has  been  for  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  years,  —  a  valuable  asset  in 
the  general  stock,  to  be  manipulated  and  exchanged 
with  as  little  regard  for  the  human  interests  involved 
as  though  his  lands  and  all  things  material  to  his 
welfare  were  no  more  than  harbors  and  dry  docks. 
A  western  district  covets  the  best  portion  of  an  In- 
dian reserve;  the  way  to  the  Indian  land  lies  through 
Congress,  and  the  business  is  placed  with  the  dis- 

292 


Conclusion 

trict's  representatives.  The  support  of  delegations 
from  other  Indian  reserve  districts  comes  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  —  they  may  in  turn  be  called  upon 
to  perform  a  like  service  for  their  constituencies. 
Together,  they  are  an  influence  in  Congress  which 
can  determine  the  success  or  failure  of  a  dozen  other 
projects  —  and  they  are  intent  upon  advancing  only 
this  one.  What,  then,  is  easier  than  to  convince  the 
ardent  seekers  after  river  improvements,  and  public 
buildings,  that  their  scheme  is  one  of  sheer  philan- 
thropy for  the  Indian  ?  A  few  "  gentlemen's  agree- 
ments," judiciously  placed,  and  the  business  is  done. 

Why  should  the  whole  villainy  of  it  be  charged 
to  the  western  member?  Could  a  scheme  such  as 
the  Rosebud  bill,  exposed  as  it  was  to  every  member 
of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  have 
passed  the  honest  scrutiny  of  members  who  could 
have  had  no  possible  selfish  interest  in  the  bill? 
In  the  midst  of  the  general  barter,  is  it  in  human 
nature  that  the  western  member  should  not  bring 
his  influence  into  the  market-place,  and  offer  it  for 
his  one  desire? 

Under  this  system  the  Indian,  although  ostensibly 
giving  up  his  substance  to  his  western  neighbor,  has 
indirectly  been  an  unwilling  subscriber  to  the  thou- 
sand and  one  benefits  distributed  by  Congress  to  the 
people  the  country  over.  There  is  in  this  a  reason 
for  the  almost  inexplicable  persistence  of  the  one 
dishonor  that  has  run  the  whole  length  of  the  na- 

293 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

tional  life.  Under  the  very  system  of  government 
which  is  supposed  to  secure  to  all  men  an  active 
participation  in  its  benefits,  the  Indian's  vital  inter- 
ests —  establishment  upon  good  land,  with  protec- 
tion and  equality  of  opportunity  during  his  long 
endeavor  to  adopt  the  new  civilization  —  are  hope- 
lessly entangled  with  the  merely  sordid,  commercial 
side  of  national  legislation.  In  all  the  conglomerate 
mass  that  makes  up  the  nation,  he  is  the  only  human 
factor  without  representation  by  vote;  he  has  no 
political  asset  with  which  to  gain  consideration  for 
himself  from  a  government  which  apportions  its 
consideration  according  to  representation. 

Thirty  years  ago  a  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
delivered  himself  of  a  fervent  opinion  which  should 
become  classic.  The  miserable  story  of  the  California 
Indians  had  dragged  itself  through  twenty-five  years ; 
every  measure  of  relief  had  been  blocked  in  Congress 
by  the  interested  few,  —  the  Vociferous  Few  in  the 
Indian  country.  "  This  class  of  Indians,"  concludes 
the  Commissioner,  "  seems  forcibly  to  illustrate  the 
truth  that  no  man  has  a  place  or  a  fair  chance  to 
exist  under  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
who  has  not  a  part  in  it."  A  more  illuminating 
commentary  on  the  Indian's  unhappy  status  in  the 
land  of  the  Free  can  hardly  be  written  in  one  sen- 
tence. The  Indian's  story  does  not  argue  that  the 
Indian  should  have  been  at  any  time  given  the  pro- 
tection of  the  franchise;  but  it  does  argue  that  in 

294 


RED  CLOUD,  THE  OLD-TIME 

(Totally  blind,  1903) 


Conclusion 

a  loose-jointed  republic  where  national  legislation  is 
at  the  beck  and  call  of  every  little  coterie  of  irre- 
sponsible voters,  the  Indian  has  been  subjected  to 
more  devilish  variations  of  human  caprice  than  if 
he  were  at  the  mercy  of  an  openly  oppressive,  but 
more  consistent  and  centralized  style  of  government. 
There  is  no  despotism  more  whimsically  cruel  than 
that  of  men  unused  to  power,  who  suddenly  find 
themselves  in  absolute  control  of  a  people  whose  one 
vital  interest  —  an  advantageous  foothold  on  good 
land  —  is  in  continual  conflict  with  their  own  chief 
desire,  —  the  possession  of  that  same  good  land. 

It  is  a  boast  of  the  American  people  that  no  fla- 
grant wrong  can  long  persist  against  an  opposing 
public  opinion;  that  the  remedy  is  with  the  people, 
and  the  people  will  apply  it.  Now,  although  grounded 
as  this  Indian  iniquity  has  always  been  on  the  very 
principles  of  "  government  by  the  people "  which 
place  the  remedy  in  the  people's  hands,  why  has 
public  opinion,  so  often  aroused,  failed  to  dislodge  it  ? 

Suppose  the  representative  of  a  particularly  vir- 
tuous district  in  New  England  were  to  take  a  de- 
termined stand  against  some  unjust  Indian  legislation, 
not  only  threatening  its  success,  but  disturbing,  pos- 
sibly, other  projects  before  Congress  dependent  upon 
a  general  exchange  of  support.  And  suppose  the 
overwhelming  majority  in  Congress  which  recognizes 
the  expediency  of  the  trading  system  were  to  punish 
this  obstreperous  member  by  sending  him  back  to 

295 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

his  constituents  without  the  benefits  and  patronage 
to  which  he  is  fairly  entitled.  His  constituents  may 
vigorously  applaud  his  action  in  the  Indian  matter, 
but  will  they  recognize  it  as  balancing  his  failure 
to  secure  the  new  post-office  building  which  they 
had  a  right  to  expect?  If  they  do,  will  the  memory 
of  the  righteous  act  endure  until  the  next  election 
day  against  the  continual,  daily  want  of  the  material 
thing?  And  even  if  the  voters'  sentiment  carries 
them  to  this  unusual  length,  will  the  political  man- 
agers, the  office  seekers,  who  really  sent  him  to  Con- 
gress to  get  something,  and  to  whom  he  is  primarily 
accountable,  permit  his  name  to  again  appear  on  the 
ballot? 

The  answer  to  these  questions  is  safely  a  negative 
one.  Behold,  then,  the  wide  distribution  of  respon- 
sibility for  this  melancholy  Indian  business!  Con- 
sidering its  intimate  connection  with  the  material, 
commercial  favors  which  come  to  all  the  people 
through  their  Congress,  is  its  persistence  so  inex- 
plicable as  it  might  seem?  And  did  ever  an  ini- 
quity more  subtly  fasten  itself  upon  the  very  shoulders 
of  a  people  intent  on  promoting  virtue! 

No  wonder  it  persists.  And  under  the  same  con- 
ditions any  other  evil  which  appeals  to  the  selfish 
interest  of  the  few  can  persist,  because  it  indirectly 
'promotes  the  selfish  interests  of  the  many.  That 
which  can  be  done  in  Congress  by  an  irresponsible 
community  can  be  done  by  any  other  irresponsible 

296 


Conclusion 

combination  with  the  requisite  showing  of  political 
influence.  What  better  can  a  people  expect  of  legis- 
lators whom  it  virtually  holds  to  the  business  of 
legislation  by  private  agreement,  than  that  they  will 
also  make  private  agreements  on  their  own  individ- 
ual accounts?  Congressmen  have  only  to  maintain  a 
reasonable  showing  of  returns  to  their  constituents 
from  the  system  of  legislative  barter, .  to  effectually 
kill  the  kind  of  public  sentiment  that  lacks  the  in- 
spiration of  some  selfish  interest.  In  effect,  the 
people  are  without  representation  in  Congress  as 
regards  their  moral  convictions. 

The  Indian  iniquity,  and  these  other  evils,  will 
persist  as  long  as  the  irresponsible  community  stands 
equally  with  other  communities  in  the  ease  with 
which  it  can  secure  legislative  enactments,  restrained 
only  by  such  vague  moral  considerations  as  may  in 
Congress  survive  the  exigencies  of  the  trading  sys- 
tem. They  will  persist  until  the  people  are  willing 
to  give  up  some  of  their  freedom  in  order  that  a 
few  may  not  be  too  free;  until  there  is  toleration 
for  a  central  authority  which  shall  restrain  the  irre- 
sponsible community,  as  the  communities  themselves 
restrain  the  irresponsible  individual. 

There  is  no  quick  remedy  in  an  appeal  to  the 
people.  The  remedy  must  go  deep  into  grounded 
notions  of  what  constitutes  freedom  and  what  really 
is  government  by  the  people;  then  it  may  reach  that 
institution  of  perverted  functions,  Congress. 

297 


The  Indian  Dispossessed 

The  prime  requisite  for  the  advancement  of  the 
public  good  is  to  instil  in  the  public  mind  a  deep, 
persistent  distrust  of  the  National  Congress.  Only 
by  stirring  to  the  depths  can  there  come  lasting 
good. 


298 


CO 

en 

CD 
CD 


. 


